


More Than Good Enough

by kaitlia777



Category: Glee
Genre: Barebacking, Baseball!Sam & Blaine, Blaine POV, Blaine and Sam get stuff done, Blow Jobs, Cheerio!Blaine & Sam, Fluff, Frottage, Gen, Kitty and Sugar are awesome, M/M, Sweetness, Tired of Mr. Shue's shit, really it depends on the chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-05
Updated: 2013-08-05
Packaged: 2017-12-10 10:45:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 31,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/785178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaitlia777/pseuds/kaitlia777
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two weeks before Nationals, Mr. Shue arrives back in Lima to prep the club for Nationals, a whole group of alumni in tow, but finds his club a little resistant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: Sorry for any typos. My transcription software doesn’t always understand what I say and I don’t always catch the mistakes. I have trouble typing things by hand since I suffered an injury last year to my right hand and it seizes up if I try to do too much.

**  
**  
**  
**

“All right, all right, let's get started!”

Blaine looked up from the checklist he was going over with Sam as Mr. Shue bounded into the choir room, once again back from Washington DC, where he had been fighting for funding for arts programs in schools. It was a noble cause that they all supported, but he had been gone for months, since just after Regionals.

Even thinking about Regionals made Blaine flinch internally. Not because of their performance, no, they had won and secured a place at Nationals, but because after their win he had what he now understood had been ill advised grand gesture and proposed to Kurt.

Who turned him down flat.

Who turned him down in tears and told him to move on, that they'd always be friends, but clearly they needed space. Time apart. Unlike last fall, there was no questioning their status, as Kurt had made his stance clear. They were done romantically, though there was hope for a friendship.

They hadn't spoken since.

His heart broke that night and he had no idea what he would've done without Sam and (to a lesser extent) the rest of the glee club, who had picked him up and held together as he began the slow process of healing.

Sam attached himself to Blaine, refusing to let him fall into the sort of depressed void he had occupied during the fall. He was there when Blaine needed to cry, always ready to offer warm hugs and gentle words and seemed to instinctively know how to pull him out of the worst of moods. Many days and nights were spent talking about nothing, simply keeping Blaine from dwelling on the break up (again).

Sugar had contributed to the ‘Cheer Blaine Up’ cause by appearing at his door one day with a kitten and handing the little ball of fluff over. 

Months later, a few weeks shy of graduation, there was still a sting when Blaine thought of that night, but he no longer felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest. He no longer dreaded heading to New York for college (NYADA was his dream too and he wasn’t giving it up), was looking forward to heading to the city with Sam and starting their college careers (Sam would be attending art school at The Pratt Institute) and rooming together and living it up.

“Mr. Shue,” Sam began, one of his stunning smiles lighting his face as he practically bounced in his seat beside Blaine, “We’ve got….”

“Hold that thought, Sam!” Mr. Shue said with a grin. “Because, since we only have two weeks to prep for Nationals and we’re going to need all the help we can get, please welcome your guest coaches, Mike Chang, Mercedes Jones, Quinn Fabray, Noah Puckerman, Santana Lopez, Kurt Hummel and Rachel Berry!”

There were few surprised cheers and Blaine felt shocked. Kurt was in the choir room. Oh God, how was he supposed to act? This wasn't something he was prepared for….

Sam's hand, warm and secure, wrapped around his, anchoring Blaine. Their fingers interlaced and Blaine took a breath, remembering to breathe.

It was okay…Actually, it hurt less than he thought it would.

“C’mon guys, what kind of a welcome is that?”

“But Mr. Shue, we…” Tina began and Mr. Shue waved a hand.

“Tina, wait a minute.”

“It's wonderful to be back!” Rachel enthused and Blaine wondered why she'd taken to slathering herself with bronzing lotion. “Now, we're going to have to work really hard to get you ready for Nationals! Everything else is going to have to take a backseat until….”

“Sorry, Rachel, I think….” Sam tried again but was shut down.

“Sam, no. Be quiet and wait your turn.”

“No!” Sam snapped, surging to his feet and clearly surprising their teacher. “No, I'm not going to wait. Do you have any idea what you’re saying to us right now? To us, the current New Directions? It's not that we are not happy to see everyone, but by bringing them back before all of our competitions, you're basically looking us all in the face and telling us we're not good enough. ”

Mr. Shue blinked and Santana raised an eyebrow, drawling, “Maybe you're not.”

Sam stared at her. “You know, for most of my life, I would've believed that. But I don't, not anymore. I know when I joined the club, I was just body, someone you needed seas have 12 members for competition, I knew it. And really it wasn't often that I was treated like anything but that and I was okay with that. Never understood why you guys came out to Kentucky and brought me back, but I was too relieved to ask…But I knew I really didn’t matter in here.”

“Most of us didn't,” Tina agreed, standing beside Sam. “Our opinions have never been taken seriously.”

“More than a little marginalization going on, yo,” Artie added and Sugar and Joe nodded.

“I had no idea any of you felt that way,” Mr. Shue said, looking at them as though they'd all gone insane. Frankly, that was the look most of the alumni were giving them.

“Well, that makes sense,” Blaine heard himself saying, “especially considering you haven't been around much this year.”

A squeeze at his hand startled Blaine and he realized that he was still holding onto Sam, who seemed in no hurry to let him go. Blaine saw Kurt looking at him in surprise, but forced his gaze away.

He wasn’t going to take a step back. He wasn’t going to fall back into his habit of focusing on Kurt to the exclusion of everything, everyone else. That part of his life was over.

“Look,” Quinn said, eyeing Sam in a way Blaine did not like, speculatively, a lioness gazing at a yummy zebra. “Whatever your issues are, you still need our help to get ready.”

“We've had our set list finalized for three weeks,” Sam said flatly. “We've been rehearsing. We're good.”

“Jake and I did the choreography. It’s gonna kill!” Brittany spoke up, hooking her arm through Blaine's even as she waved at Santana. “Hi!”

“What?” Mr. Shue asked, gaping. “Finn never mentioned any of this!”

“Yeah, he flaked out like a week after you did,” Kitty stated, crossing her arms and, at that point, Blaine realized all of the current members of New Directions were standing (save Artie), facing off against their teacher and former teammates.

“Who has been running the club then?” Mr. Shue asked in disbelief. 

“Blaine and Sam,” Marley piped up, smiling. “They're really good at it!”

“If we needed faculty authorization, Coach Bieste or Ms. Pill – Sorry, Mrs. Shue -- signed off on what we needed,” Sam told Mr. Shue. “But you know as long as we don't ask for money, Figgins doesn't care what we do.”

“Please, we don't need to ask for money,” Sugar said with a shrug, flipping through her small ledger. “All those sponsors we got more than paid for our costumes and our travel and hotel and miscellaneous expenses for Nationals. The treasury has a surplus.”

“Sponsors?”

“Yes,” Unique intoned, giving Mr. Shue an altogether unimpressed look. “See, someone got the idea that if we went around to local businesses and asked if they'd like to sponsor a national championship team trying for another win…well, let's just say a lot of places were willing to back us.”

“It was Blaine and Sam’s idea!” Ryder added, holding up his backpack, which had a sticker plastered to it. “Every business got some of these stickers that they could post in their windows, on registers, on cars. It's really cool to see them everywhere!”

“We've all been doing our part for the club, Mr. Shue, because no one else was here to do it,” Blaine said. “We've done this. We've had concerts, performed in parks, malls, at the Children's Hospital. Worked our butts off, promoting we do. Our costumes are designed and ready. All our paperwork is done, our flights are booked, our hotel rooms are reserved. We decided on songs, the choreo… This is our year.”

And what a year it had been.

“You know we're just here to help you…all of you,” Kurt said, Mike and Mercedes nodding as they agreed with his statement.

“And we’re happy to have your support,” Sam stated evenly. “But we’ve got things covered.”

“Well, what’s your set list?” Puck asked, seemingly more amused and less put out than the other alumni.

“The Rising by Bruce Springsteen, Fearless Love by Melissa Ethridge and Accidentally in Love by the Counting Crows,” Blaine replied with a smile. 

“Why don't you guys show us what you’ve come up with,” Mr. Shue said, gesturing toward the door that would lead toward the auditorium.

Brittany frowned and tugged on Blaine’s arm. “But it’s Monday!”

The alums and Shue gave her a funny look and Artie cleared his throat. “On Monday and Wednesday, we have a sort of study group before starting work on the songs. Check each other’s homework….”

“He means everyone helps me, Ryder and Britt go over our stuff,” Sam said with a shrug and Blaine gave his hand a squeeze that made Sam smile. “Hey, my GPA isn’t complaining!”

While they went about their homework routine, Mr. Shue and the alumni gathered in another corner, watching intently. Blaine felt a little bit like a zoo animal on display and was glad when the time came for them to move on to the auditorium.

Starting with the fun, peppy Accidentally in Love, they showed off all they had accomplished together.

(Sam)  
So she said what's the problem baby?  
What's the problem I don't know  
Well, maybe I'm in love   
Love  
Think about it every time  
I think about it  
Can't stop thinking 'bout it

(Jake)

How much longer will it take to cure this?  
Just to cure it cause I can't ignore it if it's love   
Love  
Makes me wanna turn around and face me but I don't know nothing 'bout love

(Group)

Oh,come on, come on  
Turn a little faster  
Come on, come on  
The world will follow after  
Come on, come on  
'cause Everybody's after love

(Ryder)

So I said I'm a snowball running  
Running down into the spring that's coming all this love  
Melting under blue skies belting out   
Sunlight shimmering love

(Blaine)

Well baby I surrender  
To the strawberry ice cream  
Never ever end of all this love  
Well I didn't mean to do it  
But there's no escaping your love,oh

(Jake)  
These lines of lightning  
Mean we're never alone,  
Never alone,no,no

(Group)

Come on, come on  
Move a little closer  
Come on, Come on  
I want to hear you whisper  
Come on, Come on  
Settle down inside my love

Oh, come on, come on  
Jump a little higher  
Come on, come on  
If you feel a little lighter  
Come on, come on  
We were once upon a time in love

We're accidentally in love

Accidentally in love (x8)

Accidentally

(Sam)  
I'm In Love, I'm in Love,  
I'm in Love, I'm in Love,  
I'm in Love, I'm in Love,  
Accidentally (x2)

(Blaine)

Come on, come on  
Spin a little tighter  
Come on, come on  
And the world's a little brighter  
Come on, come on  
Just get yourself inside her

Love  
I'm in love 

From there they smoothly transitioned into Fearless Love.

(Blaine)  
When I woke up I was 17  
You kissed my lips in a bad bad dream  
Showed me things aren't what they appear to be  
Called me angel and set me free  
You gave me life in the cold cold dark  
But you ran away in the mornings spark  
Made me think that reality  
Is not where I want to be

I am what I am and  
I am what I am afraid of  
Oh what am I afraid of  
(Group Joins In)

I need a fearless love  
Don't need to fear the end  
If you can't hold me now  
You will never hold me again  
I want to live my life  
Pursuing all my happiness  
I want a fearless love  
I won't settle for anything less

(Marley)

I've walked my path had worlds collide  
I lost my way and I fooled my pride  
This lover's ache wouldn't feel so strange  
If I could only change

But I am what I am and  
I am what I am afraid of  
So what am I afraid of  
I need a fearless love

(Group) 

Don't need to fear the end  
If you can't hold me now  
You will never hold me again  
I want to live my life  
Pursuing all my happiness  
I want a fearless love  
I won't settle for anything less

(Blaine)

Now I'm not here to lay the blame  
I understand when you hold a flame  
Heads will shake heads will turn  
And sometimes you just get burned

(Blaine & Marley)  
I want a fearless love  
I need a fearless love  
Don't need to fear the end  
If you can't hold me now  
You will never hold me again  
I want to live my life  
Pursuing all my happiness  
(Group)

I want a fearless love  
I won't settle for anything less

I need a fearless love

 

And then they finished with The Rising.

(Artie)  
Can't see nothin' in front of me  
Can't see nothin' coming up behind  
I make my way through this darkness  
I can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me

(Unique)

Lost track of how far I've gone  
How far I've gone, how high I've climbed  
On my back's a sixty pound stone  
On my shoulder a half mile line

(Tina, Kitty & Brittany)

Come on up for the rising  
Com on up, lay your hands in mine  
Come on up for the rising  
Come on up for the rising tonight

(Blaine)

Left the house this morning  
Bells ringing filled the air  
Wearin' the cross of my calling  
On wheels of fire I come rollin' down here

(Tina, Kitty & Brittany)

Come on up for the rising  
Come on up, lay your hands in mine  
Come on up for the rising  
Come on up for the rising tonight

(Group)

Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li

(Joe)

Spirits above and behind me  
Faces gone, black eyes burnin' bright  
May their precious blood forever bind me  
Lord as I stand before your fiery light

(Group)

 

Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li

(Sam)

I see you Mary in the garden  
In the garden of a thousand sighs  
There's holy pictures of our children  
Dancin' in a sky filled with light  
May I feel your arms around me  
May I feel your blood mix with mine  
A dream of life comes to me  
Like a catfish dancin' on the end of the line

(Group ~ Artie & Unique repeating A Dream of Life)

Sky of blackness and sorrow (a dream of life)  
Sky of love, sky of tears (a dream of life)  
Sky of glory and sadness (a dream of life)  
Sky of mercy, sky of fear (a dream of life)  
Sky of memory and shadow (a dream of life)  
Your burnin' wind fills my arms tonight  
Sky of longing and emptiness (a dream of life)  
Sky of fullness, sky of blessed life (a dream of life)

(Tina, Kitty & Brittany)

Come on up for the rising  
Come on up, lay your hands in mine  
Come on up for the rising  
Come on up for the rising tonight

(Group)

Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li

As the last notes faded and they stood on the stage, chests heaving with elated exertion, hands high in the air, silence descended over the auditorium. Through the harsh glare of stage lighting, Blaine could see a lot of shocked faces.

“Well, what are you going to do the next two weeks if you’ve already got that ready?” Santana asked finally.

“Not freak out two days before the performance because we are prepared for once!” Sam replied happily and the rest of the club nodded.

“Well, I guess we have our set list for Nationals!” Mr. Shue announced that. “Nice job, kids.”

“Aw, he says it like he has a say in the matter,” Kitty murmured, causing Blaine and Sam, close enough to hear her comment, to snicker. “Hope he doesn’t expect us to back down once you guys graduate.”

Blaine was kind of sorry he’d miss the power struggle between Mr. Shue and Kitty next year. That would be fun to see and he was willing to put his money on the Cheerio.

His phone buzzed, distracting him for a moment before he turned to Sam. “Mom wants to know if we want brown rice or orzo as our starch with dinner tonight.”

After Kurt and Blaine's breakup, Sam had been very concerned and had basically camped out in Blaine's house for a couple weeks to keep an eye on him. Depressed, Blaine had been grateful for his presence, as had his parents who were unsure how to deal with the situation. At some point, Blaine’s mother had given Sam his own room (though he usually slept in Blaine’s) and he just never left, moving from the Hummel’s to the Anderson's.

Mom had been home more often since the shooting incident and Blaine enjoyed spending time with her. One of his favorite things to do was watch her and Sam prepare a meal (Blaine had a bad habit of burning anything he tried to cook himself) and then watching terrible reality TV together.

“Brown Rice,” Sam chose with a smile. “It goes good with salmon and asparagus.”

“Sounds good,” Blaine agreed, texting his mother. “Let's go say hi to everyone for a while and then head home.”

Spending the evening vegging out on the couch with Sam and his mother sounded amazing, a great way to unwind after the confrontation with Mr. Shue in the choir room.


	2. After Regionals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, after posting More Than Good Enough, I decided to go back and flesh out some of the scenes I mentioned happening in passing between Regionals and Nationals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: Sorry for any typos. My transcription software doesn’t always understand what I say and I don’t always catch the mistakes. I have trouble typing things by hand since I suffered an injury last year to my right hand and it seizes up if I try to do too much.

**  
**  
**  
**  
 **Sugar’s House, post-Regional’s Victory Party**

Through the swarm of excited Glee club members, both past and present, Sam saw Kurt slip back into the party, a stricken expression on his face.

Oh no.

A few minutes earlier, Sam had seen Blaine, smiling and bubbling with joy, tug Kurt out into the yard, away from the noisy crowd. From the glow in his eye and the way his free hand was tucked into his pocket, no doubt wrapped around a little velvet box, he knew Blaine was going to go through with his plan to propose to Kurt.

And, he also now knew Kurt had not accepted.

Setting down his drink, Sam pushed his way through the throng of their friends and rushed onto the dimly lit patio, scanning the area quickly.

Blaine was sitting on the cement by a lounge chair, his knees hugged too his chest. His face was hidden, but Sam could see his shoulders shaking, could hear soft, heartbroken sobs.

This was why Sam had his doubts about Blaine’s plan in the first place. Always a fan of grand romantic gestures, he had begun to realize they had the tendency to bite you in the ass in a way that really, really hurt.

He knew he couldn’t make the pain Blaine was feeling go away, but he could be there.

“Hey,” he murmured, lowering himself to the chilly ground and wrapping his arms around Blaine. “I’m sorry, dude. So sorry….”

Gently rocking and keeping up a steady stream of non-sensical comforting babble, Sam was relieved when Blaine responded to his presence, hands clutching at Sam’s sweater and unfolding enough to bury his face in Sam’s shoulder. After what seemed like forever, Blaine shifted a bit and whispered, “Why didn’t I listen to everyone?”

“You listened to your heart,” Sam told him gently, hating the broken tone in his friend’s voice. “That’s never wrong. Sure, it doesn’t always work out, but….”

“He has a boyfriend, Sam,” Blaine sighed, breath hot and fast on Sam’s neck. “The look on his face…What was I thinking? I really messed up.”

Squeezing him tight, Sam replied, “Maybe, but that’s okay. We’re only human and we learn from our mistakes. Next time will be better.”

“I don’t think there will be a next time, not after this,” Blaine murmured, then asked, “Can you take me home…and maybe stay over? Mom and Dad are out of town….”

“Of course, whatever you want,” Sam assured him quickly. He had been telling the truth in the jewelry store, Blaine was his best friend, he loved him and would support him. If Kurt had said yes, he would have stood by his side at the altar and now he would be at Blaine’s side to help him recover from rejection.

**  
**

By the time they reached his house, Blaine felt drained, emotionally and physically. He was moving on autopilot, opening the door, locking up and then stumbling up to his bedroom.

Grabbing sweatpants he left behind the last time he'd stayed over, Sam disappeared to the guest bathroom, leaving Blaine to wash the gel out of his hair and get himself ready for bed. It seemed a laborious process, but eventually he managed to shower, change into his pajamas and brush his teeth.

That was all he had the will to do and stepped back out into his bedroom to see Sam sitting on the bed, wearing only gray sweats.

Blaine stared at him for a moment and then said, “Normally, I'd be blushing and trying to be subtle about appreciating the view… But I'm just numb.”

Sam offered him a sad smile, nodding as he held out his hand. “I know. I'd ask to borrow a T-shirt, but….”

The idea of Sam trying to squeeze into one of Blaine’s shirts was absurd (though oddly appealing) and he reached out to him, taking Sam's offered hand, allowing his friend to draw him onto the bed. It was a relief to just follow the directions given by the gentle press of Sam's hands, to lie down and allow Sam to draw the blankets up around him.

He noted that Sam's and shook slightly and realized Sam hadn't had a very good week either. “Are you okay?” he asked softly, curling onto his side. “About Britney leaving and everything?”

“More or less,” Sam replied, sliding under the blankets himself. “I'm just trying to stay positive, you know? MIT is a good thing for her and I have you and the rest of the club here.”

Nodding, Blaine sighed as a long arm wrapped around his body, pulling him back against Sam's chest and surrounding human warmth. One of the things Blaine really appreciated about Sam was his tactile nature, his willingness to give and receive contact. It was comforting.

God knew they needed comfort.

“Will you sing to me?” Blaine asked and as soon as the words were out of his mouth he couldn't believe he actually spoken them.

“Sure, anything you want,” Sam murmured, then hummed a note as Blaine closed his eyes and relaxed in Sam's embrace.

_Don't tell me love is something you won’t try again  
That's just not true  
But baby right now, maybe what you need is a friend  
Well I'm here for you_

_I will be by your side  
If ever you fall deep in the dead of the night  
Whenever you call  
And I won't change my mind  
No, I'll see you through  
And I won't give up, no I won't give up, I won't give up on you_

Silent tears spilled down Blaine’s cheeks as he shuddered in Sam's arms. Taking a breath, he gripped Sam's hand, holding it tight and pulling it up under his chin.

_You need someone who knows you from the inside out  
The way I do  
I've seen you walk the wire, never looking down  
I believe in you_

_I will be by your side  
If ever you fall deep in the dead of the night  
Whenever you call  
And I won't change my mind  
No, I'll see you through  
And I won't give up, no I won't give up, I won't give up on you_

_I will be by your side  
If ever you fall deep in the dead of the night  
And I won't give up, no I won't give up, I won't give up  
You can call it love,  
But I won't give up on you_

In the moment, Blaine felt like nothing could ease the pain in his heart, but listening to Sam, feeling steady thump of his friend’s heartbeat against his back, he knew he wasn't going to have to go through anything alone and that made all the difference in the world.

 

TBC…..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Sam sings is _I Won't Give Up_ by Jana Kramer


	3. Sunday Morning Surprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blaine and Sam aren’t actually in this chapter, but they are mentioned.

**  
**  
**

“I still can’t believe he proposed!”

Sitting in his father’s kitchen (and oh, when had he stopped thinking of it as his kitchen?) on Sunday morning with Santana, Mercedes and Mike, Kurt nodded and sipped his coffee. His dad and Carole were in the living room, giving them some private time together, as three of them would be leaving town later that day. They were discussing the events of Friday's post-Regional’s party with varying degrees of disbelief.

“Well, subtle has never been The Hobbit’s strong suit,” Santana mused, shaking her head. “And he's been hanging out with Trouty all year and he's not exactly a moderating influence. Between the two of them they probably don't know the meaning of understated. Literally, in Sam's case.”

“Where is Sam, by the way?” Mike asked, glancing around as though he expected the blonde to pop out of one of the cabinets. “He is still living here, right?”

“Yes,” Kurt told him, then shrugged. “He didn't come home on Friday, but he called dad and said he was going to be staying with Blaine to keep an eye on him until his parents came home.”

A short time later, they had moved on to teasing Mike about his new girlfriend, a culinary student named Neela who apparently hated dancing herself, when they heard familiar voices filtering in through an open window.

“I don't know why all of you had to come. I can get Sam's things myself.”

Mike frowned at Tina's voice, but before anyone could comment, they heard Kitty reply, “Sure you could, but after we poke through Sam's collection of plaid shirts in an attempt to find something decent for him to where, were going over to Blaine's to attempt to pry him off of Sam long enough for Sam to get a shower. You lost your ‘alone time with the tiny vulnerable gay boy’ privileges when your sad, sad hag crush crossed the line into creepy, drugged bad touching.”

“Oh God, that was a phase!”

“You keep saying that, but it's still creepy,” Sugar quipped. “We took a vote.”

“There was no vote!”

“We didn’t tell you.”

There was a rap on the door and Kurt shook his head before rising to pull it open to find a disgruntled Tina, an annoyed Kitty, a nervous Marley, a slightly confused Jake and…Well, Sugar was smiling, but there was something unusually sharp in her eyes as she looked at Tina.

Though Kurt had turned down Blaine's marriage proposal and knew they couldn't get back together (really, it would be an unhealthy step back for both of them at this point), he still cared about Blaine and was glad he had people to look after him. “Yes?” He asked as Kady bounced in without preamble. “Come right in.”

“Hey, Kurt,” Tina greeted him, then saw Mike, Santana and Mercedes and winced a little. “Hi guys.”

“Hey,” Mercedes and Mike chorused while Santana merely nodded and said, “You all here to pack a bag for Trouty? Seems like a bit of an over kill.”

Kitty shrugged at her. “Yeah, well, Sugar drove, Marley’s coming to be all warm and sweet at Blaine, Jake’s here so we can switch him and Sam out as human teddy bears if it comes to that, Tina’s gonna try not to be creepy and I’m here to make sure no one gets felt up.”

“I hate you,” Tina muttered, then gave Kurt a sad smile. “How are you doing? After…you know.”

He sighed. “Well, better than Blaine from the sound of things… Let me know that he's okay.”

Tina nodded and Sugar asked, “Can I go up to Sam's room?”

When Kurt nodded, Sugar smiled and led the charge of Kitty, Jake and Marley up the stairs. Huh. Kurt hadn’t known Sam and Sugar were friendly enough for her to know where his room was.

“I’d better go make sure they bring him a few shirts he’ll like,” Tina said, trying to sound light. “Sam hasn’t had any plaid since Friday, so there may be withdrawal going on.”

Rising from her seat, Santana said, “Seriously? You have a chance to dress the boy like less of a farm hand and you’re not going to take it?”

“Sam dresses just fine,” Mercedes said and Kurt wasn’t sure how it happened, but he found himself being swept along with the tide of Tina, Santana and Mercedes up to Sam’s room. Mike followed, but chose to linger in the hall, Jake diving out to join him as the room grew a bit crowded.

Looking around the room, Kurt saw that Marley was loading Sam's schoolbooks and what looked to be sketchpads into a backpack. Kitty and Sugar were staring into Sam's closet, at the array of plaid shirts and jeans it held, shaking their heads in dismay.

It became an all out verbal brawl when Santana, Mercedes and Tina put in their opinions, but fortunately Kurt's father stuck his head into the room to see what was happening and decided there was no need for all of them to pack a few changes of clothing.

Ten minutes later, the current members of New Directions left, a duffel bag, a bookbag and Sam’s guitar in tow.


	4. Slightly Later on Sunday

**  
**  
**  
**

Kitty half expected Sam to open the door with Blaine clinging to his back like an orphaned baby koala, so it was a pleasant surprise to see both boys standing on their own feet when the Anderson’s heavy front door swung open. Sure, they were both rumpled and Sam was wearing a painted on t-shirt (one that rode up to show a strip of muscly abs) with his sweats, but no one was openly sobbing.

That was good.

Still, she had to keep them on their toes.

“You both look like hobos,” she announced as she led the way into the house and peered around curiously. “How in the name of sweet baby Jesus did you grow that much facial hair in two days Blaine?”

Blaine blinked and raised a hand to his cheek as Sam tossed an arm around his shoulders, saying, “I think he’s working the beard.”

“So are you,” Blaine told him, clearly in no hurry to escape the comfort of Sam’s embrace, but not clutching at him pitifully.

“That’s just too easy,” Kitty muttered, then eyed Tina as she moved in to grab Blaine in a tight embrace.

“Oh, Blaine, how are you doing?” she cooed, tugging him off toward what appeared to be a living room. “Have you been eating? Sleeping?”

“I could make something for lunch,” Marley offered, setting down Sam’s guitar case beside the bags Jake had placed by the stairs. “If I can find the kitchen….”

“I’ll show you,” Sugar offered brightly and led Marley out of the room.

As Sam flopped onto the couch bedside Blaine and Tina, Kitty seated herself in an armchair and Jake took another, whistling slightly. “That is one giant TV,” he commented, gazing at the enormous flat screen that dominated one wall.

Because yes, that was an important thing to mention.

Boys.

At the moment, Blaine was leaning back, trying to slide out of Tina’s arms toward Sam, who draped his arm along the back of the couch to make it easier for Blaine to press against his side…but Tina didn’t seem inclined to let Blaine go quite yet.

Heaving a sigh, Kitty opened her purse and removed something she had brought for just this sort of situation. “Tina,” she said and, when Tina turned to her, she said, “We talked about this.”

Then she squeezed the trigger on the squeeze bottle and sent a jet of water at Tina’s face.

Tina jumped, shocked and yelped, “Kitty!”

All three boys in the room gaped at her in shock (though Blaine did take the opportunity to slide over to Sam, who let his arm fall around Blaine’s shoulders) and Kitty shrugged. “What? It’s how my mother taught our cat to stop climbing the drapes.”

“I’m not a cat!”

“Then you should learn to stop your unacceptable behavior faster than Bonkers.”

That earned a little smile from Blaine. “You named your cat Bonkers?”

“Bonkers Fluffytail, actually,” she said as Marley and Sugar walked back into the room bearing plates of sandwiches.

“We made paninis!” Sugar announced happily. “Turkey, cheddar and apple. Yum!”

They sat around, eating and chatting about random topics, not touching upon the whole proposal fiasco, as Blaine seemed sad but not horribly depressed like they had feared…Of course he could be faking, but something told her that if they supported and distracted him they could head off a massive meltdown.

After bouncing from topic to topic, Kitty mused, “You know, Coach Sylvester was always insane but at least she never ordered us to have ribs removed.”

Blaine nodded. “I have a feeling Coach Sue will be back. We just have to keep an eye on the more suggestible members of the squad until then so they don’t follow her directives.”

She nodded. “At least we see her less often now that the sports seasons are over and we don’t have to cheer at games.”

From his spot where he was picking at his sandwich, eating bites when Blaine looked his way, Sam asked, “How come you guys don’t cheer for the other school teams? Like the baseball team?”

“They suck,” Kitty, Tina and Sugar chorused, causing Sam to blink.

“I’m trying out for the baseball team,” he told them and, at their disbelieving stares, he said, “What? I love baseball. Last year I was already on the Guppies and Sophomore year…Well, any hours not in school or Glee I was working. I don’t care if the team sucks, I just want to play again.”

“I’ll come to cheer for you, Sam,” Blaine assured him and Kitty tried to hide her smile.

Yeah, so clearly a broken heart was going to cause Blaine’s big old crush on Sam to flare up to compensate for the pain he was feeling.

Fortunately, Sam was Sam and seemed cool with Blaine’s crush…Personally, Kitty thought the crush might not be entirely unrequited.

Especially when he smiled down at Blaine and squeezed him. “My own personal cheerleader. Awesome!”

A pleased blush spread across Blaine’s cheeks and the expression on Tina’s face made Kitty brandish her spray bottle menacingly.

“If you make the team, I’ll come watch too!” Sugar offered and Marley nodded in agreement.

“Everyone makes the team,” Kitty drawled. “I heard that in one game they walked every player on the other team. The entire game…all walks.”

“So there’s room for improvement,” Sam said in that optimistic way of his and no one could deny he was right.

After about another hour, Kitty stood and stretched. “Okay, it’s been a nice visit, but neither of you seem to be crumbling into horrible, sad, unwashed wrecks…though I suggest shaving before school tomorrow. Ms. Pillsbury – Mrs. Schue would probably not handle your Caveman looks.”

“Thanks for coming by,” Blaine said and she was pleasantly surprised by the hugs she got from both boys as they left.

Seeing them had eased some of her concerns, but Kitty knew she’d have to kee an eye on them for delayed reactions.

They were a team after all.


	5. Not a real chapter, just a timeline of the period this fic will cover from Regionals night to Graduation (maybe longer, who knows)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TIMELINE

[](http://s711.photobucket.com/user/kaitlia777/media/March2013.png.html)[](http://s711.photobucket.com/user/kaitlia777/media/April2013.png.html)[](http://s711.photobucket.com/user/kaitlia777/media/May2013.png.html)[](http://s711.photobucket.com/user/kaitlia777/media/June2013.png.html)  



	6. Sam's Baseball Tryout

**  
**  
**  
**  
From the looks of things, Kitty had not been exaggerating about McKinley’s baseball team, the Squirrels.

The group of students gathered on the badly maintained baseball diamond all seemed to be undersized and somehow ungainly. Two are playing catch, only actually catching 2/5 throws. Another boy was taking practice swings and after two, he released the bat and sent it flying (thankfully no one was hit). Everyone else was wandering around aimlessly like zombies… And a kid in right field was picking dandelions.

The coach was sitting on the bench, his head hanging low in despair.

“It's like the Bad News Bears,” Blaine breathed and Sam could only nod before he squared his shoulders and approached the bench.

“Coach Gardner?” Sam said in the man heaved a very heavy sigh.

“What?”

“I’d like to try out for the team.”

“Go on out there and…,” The man trailed off when he finally looked up at Sam. He stared for a moment before snorting. “Did you lose a bet?”

“Excuse me?” Sam asked, surprised by the question.

“I'm trying to figure out why you'd be here. You don't look like one of these kids.”

“I just want to play baseball,” Sam said, unable to think of another way to reply to the man's statement. He stuck out his hand. “Sam Evans.”

The coach stared at him again, then looked at Blaine, taking in his Cheerio uniform. “You want to try out too?”

“No, I'm just here for moral support,” Blaine said, patting Sam on the arm.

Other than their separate classes, they really haven't spent any time apart since Regionals. Sure, that it only been like five days ago, but usually Sam appreciated having some time to himself. Living in one hotel room with his family for months had given them a fondness for privacy, but with Blaine it was different.

He never got tired of being around Blaine.

Coach Gardner waved a hand in Sam gave Blaine a grin before he trotted out onto the grass and began stretching.

He quickly saw that no one else was doing the same, so he stood and called out, “Hey, everyone bring it in!... Come stand on the infield grass… No you don't need a bat for this… Let's stretch out….”

There were barely enough boys to fill out the roster, mostly freshmen with a couple of scrawny sophomores, so no one questions Sam, simply following him through the warm-ups. Since the coach simply continue to watch them invade disbelief, Sam line the boys up in two rows, wanting to see who could throw in who could catch.

Most of them could do neither.

A wild ball rolled toward the bench where Blaine was sitting in he scooped it up before neatly tossing it back to Sam, who caught it with a smile. “Good arm, dude! See how he stepped into the throw, guys!”

Yeah, Sam was pretty sure the Squirrels (seriously, what five-year-old girl had been allowed to name the school teams aside from the Titans?) weren't going to be winning any games, but he didn't care. Sure, winning was good, but it was playing (and clearly he was also gonna be more or less coaching) that was the real fun part!

Eventually, Coach Gardner rallied himself enough to make his way out onto the field. “Okay, boys, we’re gonna do a little batting practice. Someone, up at bat. The rest of you, get out into fielding positions. Who’s a catcher?”

“I was when I played little league,” a sort of round kid named Luke said and thus became their catcher.

Two kids cringed away from every ball the coach threw. 3 struck out and one managed a short hopping hit toward Sam at shortstop. He scooped it up and fired it at first, but Duncan ducked away from his throw.

Coach seemed torn between exasperation over the missed out and surprise that someone got on base. “Evans, you’re up.”

“Go, Sam!” Blaine shouted from the bench and Sam grinned at him as he took a few practice swings, tapped home and then took his batting stance…and proceeded to knock the ball well over the heads of the boy in right field.

As he rounded home, Sam smiled. He’d missed the crack of the bat.

“Evans, you’re team captain,” Coach announced and Sam blinked.

“Thanks Coach!”

He hadn’t expected that, but it was pretty cool and Blaine gave him a big thumbs up. 

Spring was a time of renewal and fresh starts. Despite still feeling some heartache over Brittany (and knowing Blaine was hurting over Kurt), Sam felt they were taking steps to starting a new chapter in their lives.

A chapter together, cuz who better to be with than your best friend?


	7. Blaine and Sam Take Charge and Take The Field

**  
**  
**  
“Where the heck is Finn?” Blaine asked, pulling out his phone and checking to see if he’d missed any texts. “Has anyone heard from him?”

There was a rumble of negative responses and Jake added, “Puck says he was on campus earlier, but he hadn't seen him in a few hours. He looked for him, but he's got get to a class he's auditing.”

Once again, it looked like they'd been left to their own devices and Blaine looked at Sam, who nodded.

“All right,” he said, climbing to his feet and turning to face the rest of the club. “So we don't have an advisor. Big deal. This week’s assignment is going to be….”

“Songs about new beginnings, starting over, hope and renewal,” Sam cut in with a grin and Blaine was impressed that he had come up with that on the spot. “It's spring and a good message.”

“Let's break up into pairs… And one trio,” Blaine continued, as they were one member short without Brittany. They have to recruit someone… or they'd end up drafting one of the band guys again. Quickly, he scribbled names on scraps of paper and dropped them into the ball cap Sam pulled out of his back pocket. “Sugar, would you like to come up and draw the names?”

Blaine had a feeling that Mr. Shue's random partner assignments were rarely random and all, so he thought it might be nice to leave things to chance for once.

With a grin, Sugar jumped up and reached into the hat, withdrawing first one, then a second paper.

“Kitty and Unique!”

She repeated the process four more times.

“Marley and Joe!”

“Sam and Blaine!”

“Jake and ME!”

“So, Tina, Artie and Ryder!”

Not so secretly pleased that the luck of the draw had paired him with Sam, Blaine traded a fist bump with his best friend before they sat down to discuss song options.

**  
**

As she passed Kitty and Unique, Sugar gave the Cheerio wink and received a nod of acknowledgment in return.

During the drawing, she pulled her name with Sam and had ignored that fact, assigning blame to work with them and simply putting herself with Jake when Blaine’s slip of paper had been pulled next.

Everyone agreed (well, they hadn't asked Tina) that keeping Blaine and Sam together whenever possible was for the best.

**  
**

“Dude, Coach keeps asking me if you’re sure you don’t want on the team. Is he trying to get me to convince you, or is he asking you too?” Sam said on Tuesday evening as he looked up from his phone, which had buzzed shortly after they had run through the song they'd chosen for “New Beginnings” week.

“Did he just text you?” Blaine asked, surprised for a moment before he considered the lack of boundaries at McKinley.

Sam shook his head. “Nah. It’s Luke. He wants to know if I can go over hand signals with him and some of the guys at lunch tomorrow.”

The Squirrels had adopted Sam as their captain/leader/de-facto coach and Blaine thought he was really good with the younger players, who had taken to following him around like little ducklings. “Sam, I didn't even try out for the team. How does he know I can play?”

“You can throw, which is better than most of the team…thought they’re improving!” Sam said with a proud smile. “I know you're too busy though. Don't worry about it.”

Blaine frowned. He was busy…but next week, after his NYADA audition, he would have more free time. With a little grin, he replied, “How about this, I joined the Squirrels with you and you join the Cheerios with me.”

He hadn't expected seemed to agree, but a very full week was worth seeing Sam in a Cheerio uniform, which Coach Roz had practically thrown at him when he approached her on Wednesday morning, and seeing the reactions of their friends when they found out what new activities Blaine and Sam had added to their schedules.

**  
**

Though when Puck spoke to Finn he swore he'd be showing up at glee, there was no sign of him at McKinley for the rest of the week…and, to be honest, everything worked out fine.

All the songs were pretty cool and everyone had a blast performing them.

Tina, Artie and Ryder had done an awesome version of Gil Scott Heron’s I’m New Here, while Kitty and Unique had killed You Got Time by Clare and the Reasons. Marley and Joe had sung a sweet rendition of John Lennon's Just Like Starting Over which had paired nicely with Jake and Sugar’s Choice, Anthem by Leonard Cohen. Sam and Blaine had opted to go with one of Sam's choices, Stronger by Sarah Evans (no relation), a country song Blaine hadn't been familiar with but thought was lovely.

Friday afternoon Blaine found himself in a Squirrels uniform, warming up for his first game. During practice on Wednesday, he found himself being appointed pitcher, as he could throw the ball catcher without having it bounce on the ground, veer wildly off course or hit the batter. Sam was the shortstop and the rest of the team just seemed to randomly decide where they were playing…though at least they were all at actual positions instead of standing at random points around the field.

Their opponents, the Vipers, were a group of large, thick necked jocks who seemed embarrassed to be facing off against them. Their uniforms all fit perfectly, unlike the Squirrels (who, except for Sam, seemed to be swimming in their red shirts and black baseball pants… Blaine was seriously considering going to his tailor over the weekend), and they were clearly not taking the game seriously.

The look on the face of the Viper’s leadoff batter when Blaine threw a strike was priceless. Clearly, he had been expecting to be walked and hadn't even attempted to swing. The batter connected with pitch number two (Blaine could throw the ball accurately, but he didn't know how to throw different pitches and his fastball wasn't very fast), a line drive between third and short… And Sam made a diving catch.

That resulted in stunned silence from the Vipers and a little cheer from the Squirrels and the small crowd of parents and members of the glee club who had chosen to attend (Kitty had even brought her pom-poms). Coach Gardner fell off of the bench in shock.

Huh.

Blaine would have thought he was too drunk to follow the game well enough to know something good happened for the Squirrels.

Of course that elation was short-lived, as the Vipers quickly worked out that as long as they didn't hit the ball at Sam the rest of the team was somewhat inept. No one seemed to care though, riding high on that first out.

What was the Squirrels turn at bat, Luke was up first (he struck out), then Blaine managed a single before Duncan popped out. Sam was batting cleanup and Blaine tried to focus on the game, not on how good Sam looked in his uniform, all long, black clad legs and broad shoulders hugged by his jersey...the roll and flex of muscles as he swung the bat and connected….

A two run home run.

The Squirrels went nuts. It didn't matter that the Vipers were up by six. They were on the board! The game was not going to be a shut out!

Tina, Kitty, Marley, Sugar and Unique were jumping up and down cheering, while Jake and Ryder hollered their support. The parents around them just looked stunned.

In the seventh inning, after Sam's second homer (which drove in Luke and Blaine), their friends broke out into a rendition of Take Me Out To The Ballgame.

Sure, in the end, the Vipers won 22 – 7, but the joy the younger Squirrels seemed to feel was infectious. Blaine grinned as Sam swept him into a hug, breathing into his ear, “You did awesome out there, dude!”

“You too!” Blaine replied, trying not to be too obvious about inhaling the scent of clean, healthy sweat and sunshine from Sam's skin. “Maybe you can show me a few other pitches this weekend.”

Sam nodded. “After Cheerios practice tomorrow morning, before you're gonna work on your NYADA song. That sound okay?”

“Hey guys,” Luke said suddenly, popping up beside them with a grin. “Question…those girls…they’re in the glee club with you, right?”

Blaine smiled and Sam chuckled. “Yeah.”

“You guys accepting new members?”

TBC………..


	8. Reaching for the Stars and Return of the Sue

**  
**  
**

When Finn was once again a no-show on Monday, Kitty heaved a sigh and crossed her arms. It kind of sucked to have people treat you like you were important enough for them to bother with.

Sam and Blaine seemed to have anticipated this though and were standing by the piano with big smiles on their slightly sunburned faces.

God, their baseball team was awful, but the game had been kind of amusing to watch and the sheer appreciation the Squirrels had for anyone who supported them was nice. The football team expected to be praised and totally took the Cheerios for granted.

Three of the Squirrels (the ones who followed Sam around more than most) were sitting in the choir room, clearly nervous as Sam said, “Okay, everyone, we've got some new recruits. Meet Jorge, Duncan and Luke! Guys, the glee club… You know me and Blaine, so meet Tina, Artie, Sugar, Joe, Unique, Marley, Jake, Ryder and Kitty!”

Most of the club greeted the nervous looking boys in one way or another and Kitty tried not to roll her eyes. Honestly, they were like scared bunny rabbits. How were they her age?

“So, we thought we'd take it easy this week…” Sam began, but Blaine, visibly bubbling with poorly restrained delight, cut him off.

"We're doing Disney songs!” he enthused, eyes bright. “We can do medleys or mash ups or, if your group can agree, just pick a favorite song… Though who can choose just one!?”

“The groups are me, Blaine, Sugar and Luke,” Sam began, consulting the paper in his hand with intense concentration. “Tina, Joe, Kitty, Ryder and Jorge… And group 3 is Artie, Unique, Jake, Marley and Duncan.”

The new kid, McGropey and Teen Jesus. Lovely. At least Ryder was okay.

As the groups clustered in a corner of the room, Kitty saw Blaine grab Sam's arm and breathe, “I Saw the Light!”

Turning back to her own group, she saw Jorge watching Sam and Blaine as well and he smiled at her. “Um… It's cool and all, I don't care, none of the guys do, Sam and Blaine are so cool…but are they a couple? We can't figure it out.”

“No,” Tina said immediately, while Ryder and Joe offered noncommittal shrugs.

Cocking her head to the side, Kitty said, “You know, I don't think they have that figured out quite yet either.”

Jorge blinked at her, then shrugged and offered, “I like the Lion King.”

**  
**

“Carmen Tibideaux is out there! Oh God, Sam, she knows two current NYADA students are products of McKinley, so her expectations are going to be sky high… What if I choke? I'm sweating. I'm sweating too much, gross….”

Resting his hands on Blaine's shoulders, Sam met his panicked gaze and said, “Dude, just breathed, okay. You are the most incredible singer. You're gonna kill this!”

Blaine was having a tiny, last-minute meltdown prior to his audition.

“But what if I don't? I have to sing for and if I….”

Sam didn't let him finish, pulling Blaine into his arms and rubbing his back. “Blaine, you're going to go out there and you going to sing your heart out because that's what you do. You get on stage and you shine… If you're nervous, don't be, because you're just singing to me. This is just another practice. We are at home, it's getting late and you're singing to me just because I love listening to you sing.”

“I like it when you sing to me too,” Blaine murmured, turning his face into Sam's neck as though to hide.

Smiling a little, Sam responded, “I'm good…You’re great. You make people feel when you sing… I almost cried when you did Against All Odds during guilty pleasures week, did you know that? I could feel what you felt... Plus, other than when Santana sang Trouty Mouth and Mercedes did I Will Always Love You, you're the only person who’s sung to me in the club, but that's beside the point…You are ready for this. Go out there and do what you do. I'll be here the whole time.”

“Okay,” Blaine replied softly and Sam gave him a final squeeze and pressed his lips against Blaine's cheek for luck. Blaine smiled at him as he pulled back and walked out onto the stage as though he hadn't just been having a mild panic attack.

“Good afternoon Mme. Tibideaux, thank you for coming. I'm Blaine Anderson.”

From where he was standing, Sam couldn't see the NYADA representative, but he heard her rich voice reply, “Nice to meet you Mr. Anderson. What are you going to be performing for me today? Something interesting or something from Broadway or the Top 40 charts?”

Blaine took a breath. “I'll be singing Bonnie Raitt’s _I Can’t Make You Love Me_.”

“Proceed.”

As Blaine nodded to Brad to begin playing music, Sam watched and wondered when Blaine had picked this song. He'd heard his friend practice handful of pieces dozens of times, as Blaine wanted to have some options, so he could pick the right piece depending on how he felt today, but this was totally new to Sam.

New or not, Blaine sounded amazing, pouring his heart out into the song. As Sam listened, he felt his own heart ached for his friend, wanted desperately to pull him into his arms and protect him from anything that could hurt him emotionally or physically….

Back during guilty pleasures week, when Blaine had sung _Against All Odds_ , Sam was fully aware he'd been the person Blaine was singing to, but he also understood how the words and lyrics and feelings could be applied to Kurt as well. Today, this song…the same. It a declaration that Blaine knew he and Kurt were over, that they wouldn't be reunited by sheer will, but it was also his statement that he knew his crush on Sam would never be returned….

Only, if Sam was being honest with himself, he wasn't so sure about that. He loved Blaine, wanted to be with them all the time, was super happy when he made Blaine smile or laugh and wanted to cry when Blaine was sad. They just got each other and Sam would never forget the fact that Blaine looked him, really saw him, all of him, accepted, valued and loved him despite his flaws and awkwardness and occasional bouts with stupidity (Blaine would never let him get away with saying that about himself aloud). Before Blaine, Sam doubted anyone would ever look at him that way and sometimes he still found it hard to believe that sweet, talented, smart, good Blaine saw him as anything special.

In the early mornings, when he woke up with Blaine curled against his side, all warm and snuggly, Sam just felt something in his heart…It just felt right.

Britt always told him he was a bi-corn, because he was a special kind of magical blonde like her. He'd never protested, because he'd never really been sure. The idea of being attracted to a boy never seemed like an impossibility, he just tended to focus on one person at a time and, until this year, he'd focused on girls…The this year, he’d wound up dating Britt and becoming best friends with Blaine and things got complicated inside….

He'd never really had a best friend before. Sure he had bros, but no one like Blaine…..

Shaking himself, Sam refocused as Blaine finished his song and exchanged a few words with Carmen Tibideaux. When Blaine joined him in the wings, Sam swept him into his arms, holding him tight and feeling the rapid thump of Blaine's heart against his own chest. “Dude, that was incredible,” Sam told him, cheek pressed to Blaine's. “Seriously, I can't even…Wow.”

“You're crying,” Blaine breathed and Sam felt the brush of Blaine's dark eyelashes on his skin as he drew back to look at Sam's face. “Good tears or bad tears?”

“Like…you make me feel things tears, so good!” Sam said with a smile and Blaine gently wiped a few stray tears away with his thumb. “You were amazing.”

Blaine flushed happily and stared at family soft, warm look in his eyes for a long moment before you blinked and coughed. “C’mon, Coach Roz will make us do extra push ups if we’re late.”

“We are celebrating later! Taco Gordo! My treat.”

**  
**

Blaine was still running on a giddy, post performance high as he and Sam rushed out of the locker room (having changed into their Cheerio uniforms, which Coach Roz didn’t insist they wear everyday, unlike Coach Sue) out into the gym. Most of the team was already there, but Coach wasn’t, so the girls were lazily going about their stretches.

“Hey,” Kitty greeted them from where she was seated on the floor, reaching for her toes. “How’d the audition go?”

“Pretty good, I think,” he replied with a smile. “Thank you for asking.”

She shrugged and Blaine felt Sam grip his shoulders, giving him a warm squeeze. “He’s being totally modest, Kitty,” Sam told her, beaming and bouncing on his toes. “He was awesome. Crazy good.”

“Wow. That’s a lot of positive energy, Sam. How did you escape Sue’s recruitment net prior to now?” Kitty commented, rolling her eyes and pointing to an open spot on the floor. “Warm up.”

It was a good thing they followed her advice because, minutes later, the doors burst inward to admit Coach Roz and Coach Sue.

Both women looked deeply, deeply pissed off and Sue began to shout almost immediately. “All right, all right, save your applause. Yes, I'm back in my rightful place….”

“It's my squad now, Crazy Fool!” Roz interrupted. “I don't know what you have on Figgins….”

“Can it, you chlorinated escapee from the local Y,” Sue snapped, then stabbed a finger at the Cheerios. “My God, look at you! You're all a mess. Run the bleachers, now!”

Sue Sylvester was back and ready to do battle with Coach Roz for the Cheerios.

Blaine thought it was only wise to be afraid…and also a little pleased. 

 

**  
**

TBC…..

**For those who don’t know the song Blaine sang, here are the lyrics:**

I Can’t Make You Love Me ~ Bonnie Raitt

_Turn down the lights;  
Turn down the bed.  
Turn down these voices  
Inside my head._

_Lay down with me;  
Tell me no lies.  
Just hold me close;  
Don't patronize._

_Don't patronize me._

_[Chorus:]  
'Cuz I can't make you love me  
If you don't.  
You can't make your heart feel  
Something it won't.  
Here in the dark  
In these final hours,  
I will lay down my heart  
And I'll feel the power;  
But you won't.  
No, you won't.  
'Cuz I can't make you love me  
If you don't._

_I'll close my eyes,  
Then I won't see  
The love you don't feel  
When you're holding me._

_Morning will come,  
And I'll do what's right;  
Just give me till then  
To give up this fight._

_And I will give up this fight._

_[Chorus]_

__


	9. Dinner, Performances and Steve and Tony

**  
**  
**  
**

“Everything hurts,” Blaine groaned as he tried to sink further into the insufficiently padded vinyl booth at Taco Gordo, eyeing Sam unhappily. “She's going to kill us while trying to ‘whip us back into shape’! We're not out of shape... And how come you don't look like you want to crawl into a hole and cry?”

“Maybe she was just trying to make a point today…like, reasserting herself as the Alpha Coach or something? I'm okay because, well, I'm used to working out kinda crazy… Not as crazy as I did for a while though, I have cut back. I promise,” Sam offered. “At least she totally shot down Coach Roz’s rule that the girls have to have some ribs removed.”

“There is that,” Blaine replied with a nod, reaching for a nacho chip. “Ow! What the hell? My hand is cramping. We didn't do hand exercises.”

“It's probably the muscles in your forearm tensing up,” Sam said, reaching across the table and wrapping his big hands around Blaine's arm. “Here.”

Blaine winced, then sighed as strong fingers dug into knots of tension, pressing and kneading until the muscles relaxed. His touch was sure, fingertips slightly rough and Blaine shivered a little as those calloused digits dragged over the soft skin of his inner arm.

“Cold?” Sam asked, thumb unerringly digging into a particularly sore spot.

Shaking his head, Blaine breathed, “No. It feels good.”

Really good.

Sam smiled and continued the light massage until their food arrived.

**  
**

Disney Song week was awesome.

Joe, Tina, Kitty, Ryder and Jorge sang a cute, spirited mash up of Hakuna Matata and Why Should I Worry and Unique absolutely killed her part of the Beauty and the Beast/Kiss the Girl combo.

But Blaine knew he wasn't being conceited to think that their rendition of I See The Light blended with A Whole New World was going to blow everyone else out of the water. Sugar had obviously been practicing and was no longer completely off pitch, Luke could carry a tune and, well, he and Sam already knew they sound good together.

(Blaine)  
All those days watching from the windows  
All those years outside looking in  
All that time never even knowing  
Just how blind I've been  
Now I'm here blinking in the starlight  
Now I'm here suddenly I see  
Standing here it's all so clear  
I'm where I'm meant to be  
(Luke)  
I can show you the world  
Shining, shimmering, splendid  
Tell me, princess, now when did  
You last let your heart decide  
I can open your eyes  
Take you wonder by wonder  
Over, sideways, and under  
On a magic carpet ride  
A whole new world  
A new fantastic point of view  
No one to tell us no or where to go  
Or say we're only dreaming  
(Sam)  
All those days chasing down a daydream  
All those years living in a blur  
All that time never truly seeing  
Things, the way they were  
Now she's here shining in the starlight  
Now she's here suddenly I know  
If she's here it's crystal clear  
I'm where I'm meant to go

(Sugar)  
A whole new world  
A dazzling place I never knew  
But when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear  
That now I’m in a whole new world with you  
Unbelievable sights  
Indescribable feeling  
Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling  
Through an endless diamond sky  
(Blaine & Sam)  
And at last I see the light

(Sam)  
And it's like the fog has lifted  
(Sugar)  
A whole new world  
(Luke)  
Don't you dare close your eyes 

(Blaine & Sam)  
And at last I see the light

(Blaine)  
And it's like the sky is new  
(Luke)  
A whole new world

(Sugar)  
Every turn a surprise

(Luke)  
With new horizons to pursue

(Sugar)  
Every moment red-letter

(Luke & Sugar)  
I'll chase them anywhere, there's time to spare,  
Let me share this whole new world with you

(Blaine & Sam)  
And it's warm and real and bright  
And the world has somehow shifted  
All at once everything is different  
Now that I see you  
Now that I see you

As they finished, Blaine knew he was flushed with a combination of performance joy and general happiness. He'd watched Sam as they sang (their lines were meant to go together after all) and found that Sam had been watching him just as much.

It almost made Blaine think that he might….

No. No, Sam was his friend.

His sweet, kind, compassionate, funny, adorable, talented, hot best friend who cuddled him at night and sang love songs with him….

“That was awesome!” Luke said, practically bouncing over to where Sam and Blaine were standing, grinning at each other. The younger boy was smiling ear to ear and the rest of the club were up on their feet, happy and chatting about their performances. “Are there going to be any concerts or anything? I'd love to ask my parents to come see!”

They didn’t actually do a lot of public performances in glee… “You know, I think we should look into performing more in front of crowds,” Blaine said to himself and Sam nodded at him.

“You guys did great!” Sam enthused, thumping Luke's back even as he slung an arm around Blaine's shoulders. “Let's hear it for our newest members, who are gonna fit in just fine.”

As the round of applause died down, Sugar asked, “Hey, Duncan, why does your shirt have the Lima Credit Union logo on the back?”

Duncan, who was wearing his Squirrels practice T-shirt, shrugged. “They sponsor the team.”

“Sponsors,” Tina said, sounding wistful. “That must be nice.”

Blinking, Blaine mused, “That’s true… Why don't we have sponsors? We’re national champions. I'm sure some local businesses would back us.”

“That would be better than trying to pry money out of Figgins, asking our parents for travel expenses or bake sales,” Artie commented and everyone nodded, liking that idea.

“Down in the art room,” Sam said, sucking his full bottom lip into his mouth in thought, “Mr. Lauren has a machine that makes stickers. We could make some and give them to any business that sponsors us to display in the window or at the register or on cars….”

By the time Sam, Blaine, Luke, Duncan and Jorge had to rush off to make an evening Squirrels practice, New Directions had a plan of attack and Sugar’s dad was already on board as a sponsor number one.

**  
**

Friday and Saturday had gone by in a blur of school, a baseball game (they lost 16-5, but were still delighted to have points on the board), and early-morning Cheerios practice, a Squirrels practice and a surprise evening visit at Blaine's by Sugar, who shoved a box at Blaine, grinning as she said, “I was at the mall and I saw them and couldn't resist!”

In the box were two kittens, one a charcoal gray, the other gold, orange and white.

[](http://s711.photobucket.com/user/kaitlia777/media/grey_little_kitten-Copy.jpg.html) [](http://s711.photobucket.com/user/kaitlia777/media/tworedkittens.jpg.html)

“Kitten!Blaine and Kitten!Sam!” she announced happily before dragging Sam out to her car to gather the assortment of cat supplies from her trunk.

When she left, Blaine held the tiny, gray ball of fur to his chest as Sam tried to convince his cat that it didn't need to climb onto his head. “They are adorable,” he said, stroking the kitten’s soft head. “But we can't call them Kitten!Blaine and Kitten!Sam.”

They decided Tony and Steve were totally more appropriate names for the kittens.

Sunday was spent playing with the cats, doing homework and, for Sam, designing the sticker that they would give out to potential sponsors.

“I like this one,” Blaine commented, looking at the designs Sam had worked up in his sketchbook as they sprawled on his bed after The Walking Dead ended at 10 o'clock. His head was resting on the warm curve of Sam's bicep because the kittens had usurped his pillow and Sam never minded a little cuddling.

“Me too,” Sam murmured, sounding sleepy. He shifted a little and Blaine found his head sliding from Sam's arm to his shoulder. Unconsciously, he nuzzled his cheek against the firm (but somehow very comfortable) muscles of Sam’s chest and Sam curled his arm down around Blaine's back, holding him close. 

Warm and content, Blaine closed his eyes, telling himself he'd move over to his side of the bed in a moment.

An hour later, as she passed by her sons open bedroom door, Camille Anderson smiled and stepped into the room to pull a blanket up over Blaine and Sam, who were sleeping peacefully, curled up together.

TBC…..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOL, I know the pics of the kitties are oddly sized, but pretend the cats are both little!


	10. Home, Going Country and The Kids

**  
**  
**

“Blaine, Sam, could you two come in here for a moment before you run upstairs?”

At the sound of his mother’s voice, Blaine turned toward the living room and Sam followed. He liked Mrs. Anderson. She was really nice and sometimes cooked these awesome foods Sam had never heard of, but they were both healthy and delicious (and she didn’t try to feed him five helpings with every meal).

“Hi, Mom,” Blaine said happily as they stepped into the living room to see Mrs. Anderson seated on the couch. She had obviously been reading, with Steve and Tony curled up on her lap.

“Hi, Mrs. Anderson,” Sam greeted her when she smiled at him.

“How was school, glee club and…was it baseball practice tonight?” She asked, clearly trying to remember their schedules, which were admittedly quite full.

“Great,” Sam told her with a grin. “We're doing country songs this week and Blaine hit a triple at practice!”

“And Sam did great on his history test,” Blaine added, causing Sam to flush. “We also decided to have glee club study sessions at start of our Monday meetings. Finals will be coming up soon and we want to be ready.”

Sam knew full well that Blaine had no worries about his own grades, but had proposed the idea to help the members of the club like Sam and Ryder, who did sometimes struggle to keep their grades up. Despite his abysmal SAT scores, Sam actually been doing pretty well in school this year, as Blaine had taken to helping him a few nights a week with his English homework. Reading assignments were Sam's biggest enemy.

“Good for you both!” Mrs. Anderson said, then chuckled as Steve woke suddenly and rolled off her leg onto the couch. “Now, I saw Sam's things piled up in the corner of your room last night, Blaine, so I moved them across the hall into one of the guestrooms. You're going to stay with us now, yes, Sam? Until you two head off to college?”

Sam blinked in surprise. “Uh, I hadn't really thought that far ahead….”

Blaine turned his big, pleading puppy eyes at Sam as Mrs. Anderson continued, “It’s no trouble. We love having you here. Besides, you wouldn't want to separate the kittens, would you? I think they might not sleep so well apart from each other.”

“They totally wouldn't,” Blaine agreed and Sam was sure he wasn't really talking about the kittens…and, to be honest, he didn't want to leave.

“I'll go get the rest of my stuff after school tomorrow and talk to Burt and Carole.”

“Lovely,” Mrs. Anderson said and Blaine smiled brightly and offered Sam a fist bump. “Now, go wash up, boys. The chicken inasal is marinating in the grill should be hot by now. Can you use a barbecue without setting anything on fire, Sam?”

“Mom!” Blaine said, cheeks flushing. “That was one time.”

“You set the pool on fire, dear,” she reminded him with an amused look and Sam tried not to snort. “That one time will not be easily forgotten. You to take the meat out to the grill and I'll make the garlic rice and pinakbet.”

Sam really wasn't sure what some of those foods were, but so far he'd liked everything Mrs. Anderson had made, so he smiled. “Yes ma'am, I can use a grill.”

As they hurried to wash up, Sam asked, “How the heck did you set up one fire?”

“It's a long story….”

**  
**

Tuesday, after a grueling Cheerios practice (Blaine cringed when Coach Sue ordered them to do 500 push-ups -- or as many as they could before their “skinny, string bean arms gave out and failed to.” Sam had been the one to power through full 500, even when Sue stood on his back for the last 50.), Sam led Blaine down to the art, grinning happily.

When Blaine saw the bright, shiny sheets of special paper printed with the sticker Sam had designed, he understood Sam's excitement. “Oh, wow, these look great!” he said. “How many did you make?”

“Three dozen to start,” Sam told him, loading the sheets into a paper cutter and lowering the blade, dividing the sheets into individual stickers. “Who knows how many sponsors we’ll actually get.”

“I have a good feeling,” Blaine assured him, setting the sticker down and stepping over to the easel to inspect a gorgeous pencil sketch. “Is this Steve and Tony?! It's perfect.”

A please flush rose on Sam's cheeks. “You think so?”

“Yes,” Blaine breathed. “I might not be able to draw stick figures myself, but I can sure appreciate when someone else has an artistic gift.”

“Can I draw you?” Sam asked the question in a quiet, tentative way and blinked as though he surprised himself by asking.

“You want to draw me?” Blaine asked, touched and more than a little pleased.

“Yeah,” Sam admitted, cheeks still pink. “You've got a great face… I wake up before you most days, you know, and you look all…warm and sleep soft in your hair is curly and your lashes are really long and cast these shadows over your cheeks and…I just…Can I draw you sometime?”

There was a sort of energy in the air and Blaine tried to do more really strong impulse to step across the room to kiss Sam. In the end, restraint one out and he smiled shakily, “Of course.”

On Thursday, after their country songs, the club broke up into groups of three and one duo to look for sponsors among local businesses. Sugar’s dad had helped her write up some professional looking proposal paperwork and, by the end of the day, quite a few business owners had decided that some good press in the form of supporting a group of national champion performers wouldn't hurt their businesses.

As Sugar was doing a bang up job as student council treasurer, it was unanimously decided that she should be the glee club treasurer as well.

Of course that led to everyone voting Sam and Blaine co-captains…roles they had already fallen into, but it was nice to be offered validation by their peers.

When Blaine had reached out to some local event planners and organizations the activities department at Lima Memorial Hospital had been quick to jump at the idea of having them come saying in the day room of the children's ward. They prepared a set list full off bubbly pop hits, children’s classics and, of course, Disney songs (from movies and the Disney Channel – Kitty and Marley knew a staggering amount of Hannah Montana and Camp Rock lyrics and Sam hung his head before admitting he could play along on guitar, as he had learned the music to entertain his sister) and, on Saturday, arrived at the hospital with guitars and Blaine's keyboard him tow.

The kids were a surprisingly cheerful audience, calling out song suggestions and singing along when they knew the lyrics. As silly as it was (and despite the fact that most of the kids had never heard the song) Wake Me Up Before You Go Go was a big hit.

When they finished singing, they stayed for a while to just visit and Blaine found himself facing two little girls who gazed up at him for a moment before one announced, “You have hair like my Ken doll!”

The doll she brandished did have smooth, dark, plastic hair and Blaine nodded. “He's very stylish.”

“Come color with us.”

That he could do. Kitty was already at the small table with another girl, so they joined them as Kitty said, “Yes, Glee Club is fun… It's very different from cheerleading. Hey, Blaine.”

Immediately that caught the interest of all three little girls. “You're a cheerleader?”

“Yes,” Kitty agreed, then grinned. “So are Blaine and Sam.”

“Sam?”

“The tall blonde boy holding the baby.”

Blaine turned to see that Sam had indeed wound up with a toddler in his arms. The little boy was leaning against Sam's shoulder, sucking his thumb contentedly as Sam talked with a couple of slightly older children who were carefully peering at his guitar.

A small cluster of young nurses were watching Sam with little smiles on their faces and Blaine felt the hot stab of jealousy in his stomach… In a rational jealousy, he told himself. Sam wasn’t his boyfriend and besides, the nurses weren't doing anything, just watching Sam be adorable with the children.

“Want me to go over and do a jailbait cough at them?” Kitty whispered in his ear suddenly and Blaine realized she'd caught him staring.

Flushing, he shook his head and turned his attention back to the coloring book one of the girls was showing him. “Wow, this is really good.”

She smiled, so sweet and happy despite the IV’s dripping who knew what into her tiny veins. “I'm very good at staying inside the lines. You can help if you want.”

“Thank you,” he said, selecting a bright green shade one of the trees was she continued working on a purple My Little Pony.

A few minutes later, when he glanced up, Blaine found Sam watching him with a fond expression and they exchanged smiles.

TBC…..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs the club members sang for Country week:  
> Artie, Jake, Duncan, Luke and Jorge (who teamed up because none of them are big country fans) ~ Alcohol by Brad Paisley  
> Ryder ~ You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive by Brad Paisley  
> Kitty ~ All American Girl by Carrie Underwood  
> Marley ~ Man! I Feel Like A Woman by Shania Twain  
> Sugar and Unique ~ Wildflower by The JaneDear Girls  
> Joe ~ Good Directions by Billy Currington  
> Tina ~ Red High Heels by Kellie Pickler  
> Blaine ~ Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts  
> Sam ~ Complicated by Carolyn Dawn Johnson


	11. The Return and Selecting Songs

**  
**  
**

“Hi, Sam!”

An unexpected voice made Sam looked up from the US history homework he was looking over. “Brittany?” he said with surprise. “Hi! Oh, wow, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at MIT?”

She shrugged. “I was. But they decided they needed a few months to prepare the teachers for me. There was too much crying. I'm going back in the fall though.”

“Oh,” he replied, really not knowing what else to say. “That's good.”

“And principal Figgins told me not to worry about the classes I missed here, so yay!” she said, sliding into her seat. “I almost went to New York to stay with Santana, but I wanted to finish senior year.”

He nodded. “Are you two back together?”

“Yes,” she told him with a happy smile and, though he felt a small pang of sadness, mostly he was happy for them. “Do you have a new girlfriend yet?”

Sam's fingers reflexively curled around his homework paper, the paper Blaine had helped them proofread last night, right before they went to bed. “I like someone,” he told her. “A lot.”

A bright smile graced her features as she hugged his arm. “I'm sure she'll like you too! Or he. Whenever. You're a good boyfriend.”

“Thanks, Britt,” he said, hoping that she was right and that maybe Blaine did like him as more than a fleeting crush.

**  
**

After Glee (where Sam and Blaine assigned everyone to pick a song they thought would be good for Nationals – they’d perform them and vote for the top 3 on Thursday), there was yet another Squirrels home game. The team had yet to win a single game, but they hadn’t been any shut outs either and Blaine thought the younger boys were improving under Sam’s coaching.

The entire glee club turned up at the game, Kitty and the newly returned Brittany in full Cheerio uniforms. The parents, initially so shocked to see other students present in the stands, had become accustomed to their presence. Some of them even joined in on the seventh inning sing-alongs.

Blaine even though Coach Gardner smelled less like a distillery than usual…though he still left the active coaching to Sam.

Sam, who was smiling supportively Alan as he gave the freshman pep talk in the on-deck area. There was still dirt streaking front of Sam's uniform from earlier, when he had dove headfirst into home to avoid being tagged out.

There were smudges on Blaine’s shirt that had transferred when Sam grabbed him in a hug when the ump declared him safe.

“How’s your arm feeling?” Sam asked as he settled himself on the bench beside Blaine to watch Alan at the plate.

“Good,” Blaine replied and Sam rubbed his bicep for a moment.

“Go Squirrels! Score a touchdown!” Brittany called from where she was sitting in the stands and Sam chuckled.

Smiling a little tightly, Blaine asked, “So…are you and Britt…?”

“No,” Sam replied immediately, shaking his head. “No, she and Santana are together again. And that's good. They really love each other, you know?”

Part of Blaine’s heart leapt, knowing Sam and Brittany were going to get back together, but he immediately chastised himself. He shouldn’t be glad about that. “Are you okay?” he asked quietly, reaching out and wrapping his fingers around Sam's wrist. “I'm here if you want to talk about it or anything.”

Sam smiled at him warmly. “I know,” he replied. “I think I'm okay, but thanks…Yes, Alan! Good hit!”

Alan managed to single and was waving happily from first base. Whenever we the Squirrels got on base, it was like they had hit a grand slam. Sam's batting practices were clearly helping them.

Their opponents still thought they were a joke of a team, but no one gave a damn what they thought. Being a Squirrel was fun and they were improving every day.

Squeezing Sam's wrist, Blaine stood ready to move toward the on deck circle. If Jorge got on base, maybe Blaine to drive one or both of them home.

“You got this,” Sam encouraged and startled Blaine by slapping him on the ass.

Face flushed red, Blaine grinned and grabbed a bat, glad he let Sam talk him into joining the team.

**  
**

Thursday’s glee meeting ran over an hour longer than it usually did, as everyone selected a song they thought might work for the team at Nationals. Most of them were pretty darn good, Sam thought, but in the end there had been 3 that got an overwhelming response. 

Tina was overjoyed when they chose her selection, Fearless Love, while Sugar had shocked everyone by picking The Rising. Who knew she was a Springsteen fan?

Sam himself had been surprised when the third song chosen was his own, Accidentally in Love. During his performance, he’d seen Blaine smiling brightly at him, clearly enjoying himself and that was almost better than having everyone else decide they wanted to sing the song at Nationals.

So, they had a set list. Jake and Brittany offered to work up some choreography and they’d spend at least part of every club meeting practicing the music and dancing for competition.

The New Directions had a plan.

They were gonna be prepared and kick ass in LA. 

TBC…..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter was kinda short, but the next one is gonna be long. Not getting any Blam kisses yet, we’re not there yet, but something significant does happen……


	12. Letters & Kentucky

**  
**  
**

“Dude, I am so looking forward to doing nothing tomorrow,” Sam said with a sigh as he followed Blaine into the house on Friday after Cheerio’s practice. “I may just stay in my pajamas all day.”

Since half of the time Sam’s pajamas didn’t include a shirt, Blaine was more than okay with this plan.

By some stroke of good fortune, they had a blessedly free Saturday. After weeks of jam packed schedules, it was a relief not to have anything planned. “I may not even gel,” Blaine agreed, then hurried to add, “Not because I'm depressed or anything, just… To be relaxed.”

Sam nodded, eyes traveling up to Blaine's hair. “I'm not complaining, I like your curls.”

Smiling, Blaine shook his head. “I look like an alpaca,” he laughed, flipping through the mail he'd retrieved before they entered and pausing at a large envelope. “Sam, this is for you.”

The envelope was from The Pratt Institute, one of the colleges Sam had applied to.

“Oh,” Sam responded, staring at the envelope in trepidation.

Of course Blaine had yet to hear from NYADA, but he had been accepted to Tisch and AMDA (both located in New York as well), so he was thrilled to see Sam had received that letter from Brooklyn based Pratt. “Open it!” he urged, pressing the envelope into Sam's hands.

Fidgeting, Sam mumbled, “I’ve been waiting to open them all at once, you know? Like ripping a Band-Aid off… In case I don't get in anywhere.”

It took a moment for Blaine to realize what that meant. “You've heard from other colleges and you haven't opened the letters?”

When Sam nodded miserably, looking at the floor, playing reached out and placed his hands on either side of Sam's face, tilting his chin up so that their eyes met. “Sam, you don't send a thick packet like this with a rejection letter.”

“They don't?” Sam breathed, glancing at the envelope, then back to Blaine. “Okay.”

He shifted his backpack, reaching in and fishing out to similarly fat letters.

Together, they sat at table, Blaine’s eyes on Sam's face as he opened the envelopes, one at a time.

Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ~Accepted, full scholarship and paperwork to fill out as he qualified for room/board assistance.

College of the Ozarks, Point Lookout, Montana ~ Accepted, full scholarship and work study available.

The Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York ~ Accepted, full merit-based scholarship to study art and graphic design, room/board assistance available.

“I got in,” Sam murmured softly, meeting Blaine’s gaze. “I got in to three schools.”

Grinning, Blaine said, “I knew you would!”

Sam still doubted himself, but Blaine hoped this would help dispel some of that.

A stunning smile slowly spread across Sam's face. “I'm going to New York. Pratt’s the school I really wanted… And I got in!”

“You did,” Blaine agreed, reaching over to grasp Sam's hands. “We're going to New York! If I don't get into NYADA, I'm going to Tisch. NYU.”

“We’re going to New York,” Sam repeated, standing in hauling Blaine out of his chair and into his arms. “We are going to college in New York!”

Squeezing Sam tight, Blaine laughed at the taller boy lifted him off of his feet and spun them around the kitchen a few times. Dizzy from the excitement and the twirling, Blaine smiled, burying his face against Sam's neck.

Eventually, Sam set him back on his feet, though he kept his arms looped around Blaine. “I have to call my parents!” Sam exclaimed and Blaine could see the pride in his eyes, the excitement.

A thought struck and Blaine shook his head. “Don't call. Pack an overnight bag. Take my car and you can drive to Kentucky tonight. Tell them in person. We've got a performance on Sunday, but….”

“Come with me!” Sam insisted. “I want you there. I wouldn't have applied if it wasn't for you and we can be back in time to sing at the mall.”

Of course Blaine wasn't going to say no. They packed their bags and the kittens into the backseat and Sam drove, as he knew the route, while Blaine did a little preliminary real estate research on his iPhone. Normally, Blaine tried not to fall into the habit of accepting outlandishly expensive presents from his parents (Okay, yes, his Prius wasn't cheap, but it was far more economical and understated when compared to the Ferrari Cooper had asked for and received when he turned 16), but New York was expensive and his dad offered to outright buy Blaine any apartment he wanted in the city as a graduation gift….

Sam balked at the idea of a department initially, but Blaine won him over with a plea not to leave him alone in the city (plus, most dorms were not kitten friendly) and a promise that, while there would be no rent, Sam could pitch in on the other bills. They called Artie to see if he wanted to live with them, but he was set on the idea of dorm life, so would be just the two of them…though Blaine did make certain to bookmark some of the apartments that were wheelchair accessible so their friend would be able to visit.

When he asked what burrough appealed to Sam, his friend chuckled. “I honestly don't know anything about New York,” he said with a shrug. “When I was there for Nationals, I just fall the rest of the club around. Does it really matter where we live? Aren't there trains and buses that can get you anywhere?”

“Yeah,” Blaine admitted, then consulted his phone. “The East Village sounds interesting, but so do DUMBO and Williamsburg. Maybe when school lets out, we can go look in person.”

“Probably a good idea,” Sam said, nodding. “I don't mind doing some repairs, but if it's got mold or dry rot…Nah, best see the place with our own eyes.”

Blaine raised an eyebrow. “Oooh, are you a handyman? I won't have to call someone for every little issue?”

“Nope,” Sam replied in a light, happy tone. “I have been known to rock a tool belt.”

That was an intriguing thought.

It was after 10 when Sam pulled to a stop outside a small house in a quiet suburb of Louisville. The house was dark as Sam let them in the front door and quietly called, “Mom? Dad?”

A light down the hall popped on and a door swung open. “Sam?” Mrs. Evans said, surprised but clearly pleased to see her oldest son as she gathered him close. “Oh, Sammy, sweetheart, it's good to see you!”

“Your sight for sore eyes, son,” his father added, wrapping his arms around both Sam and his wife. “Is everything all right?”

Mr. Mrs. Evans looked just as Blaine remembered them from few times he and Kurt had babysat for the twins while they were all living at the hotel, though now they seemed happier and less stressed.

“Everything is great, dad,” Sam assured his parents, then added, “You guys remember Blaine, right?”

“Of course,” Mrs. Evans said, ushering them into the living room. “Nice to see you again.”

Blaine returned the sentiment, then nudged Sam, urging him to tell his parents what had prompted this surprise visit.

“I got into college!” Sam breathed in a rush, forgoing any preamble. “With scholarships. The Pratt Institute in New York!”

He thrust his acceptance letter at his father, while his mother smiled and covered her mouth with her hand, unable to find the words.

“He got into three schools,” Blaine said, refusing to let Sam gloss over his achievement.

Then there were happy exclamations and tears and loud congratulations and Blaine found himself drawn into a group hug, half crushed between Sam's parents.

“What's going...Sammy!”

Two smaller bodies hit their huddle at waist height as Stevie and Stacy had clearly been woken by the sounds of Sam's arrival and his subsequent news.

Needless to say, the whole house had a late-night, but eventually Blaine found his energy waning. After finishing the hot chocolate Mrs. Evans made, everyone seemed to be flagging. Even Steve and Tony (who had been excited and curious about a strange new environment and the new people in it) were curled up and snoring tiny kittens snores.

Sam's bedroom was tiny and, after a quick shower to rinse his hair, Blaine found himself regarding the twin bed. Sure, they slept curled around each other in his queen sized bed, but there was room to pretend they each have their own side.

Sam seemed oblivious, trading his jeans and T-shirt for old sweatpants. He left his close on the floor in the kittens immediately curled up on them as Sam practically fell into the bed.

Even in his plain blue cotton pajamas, Blaine felt overdressed and suddenly to warm as Sam extended a hand to him. There was no pretending here, no climbing into separate sides of the bed, no one tearful or in need of comfort… It was just the two of them and small bed.

If he was stronger, he'd resist and go claim the couch for the night… But he gotten used to sleep in wrapped up in Sam and he wasn't quite ready to give up on the illusion those sleepy embraces offered. He willingly climbed into Sam's arms, soaking in his scent and warmth with a sigh.

Sam pulled him close and Blaine fit his head under his chin, one arm sliding around his torso and the other placed lightly over Sam's steadily thumping heart. Their legs tangled together seemingly of their own volition and Blaine closed his eyes, exhaustion taking over.

“Thanks,” Sam murmured, some moving slowly over one of Blaine's shoulder blades. “For everything… And for coming with me tonight.”

“Nowhere I'd rather be,” Blaine replied in a sigh, dropping off into an easy, happy sleep.

**  
**

“I'll be right back!” Sam called, stepping into the house, leaving Blaine in the small backyard Stevie and Stacy, who were kicking around a soccer ball. His intention was to grab juice boxes and run back out, but his mother was sitting at the table, drinking coffee, so he said, “Hey, Mom!”

“Sweetheart,” she greeted, waving at the empty chairs. “Sit with me for a minute.”

“Okay,” he agreed, dropping into a seat and waiting, knowing she had to have something on her mind.

Reaching over, she clasped Sam's hand in her own. “I'm so proud of you, Sammy. I know we haven't been able to give you the easiest life, you have to grow up so fast, but you never complained now look at what you've accomplished. Your dad and I… You'll always be her baby, but you're becoming an amazing man….”

She trailed off and tugged Sam over for a hug, allowing him to cuddle close for a moment like he had when he was little. “Thank you, Momma.”

Rubbing his back, she continued, voice lighter. “So… You and Blaine?”

Sam knew he was blushing as he replied, “He's my best friend.”

She chuckled. “Oh, sweetheart, I see how you to look at each other. When did that happen?”

“I…,” Sam began, pausing to wet his lips and take a deep breath before he continued, “Slowly. Not all at once. We are best friends. I love him and I just… I fell for him. He's got a crush on me, but he still getting over Kurt, so I can't say anything. He's so smart and talented and good, Mom, and he sees me and he likes me for me. I don’t know if anyone other than you guys have ever really taken the time to look at me like that….”

As soon as he spoke, Sam felt like a bit of a weight had been lifted off his chest.

He loved Blaine.

He was in love with him.

His mother smiled softly at him and pushed his hair off his face. “You've got such a big heart, sweetheart, I don't want to see you get hurt again, but he looks at you like you look at him. I think there might be more than a crush.”

Sam shook his head. “Maybe, but I have to wait. If I…if we…and he and Kurt reconcile, I couldn't….”

“You really do love him,” she murmured, hugging Sam tight again and kissing his temple. “It'll work out. Mother's intuition.”

He hoped his mom was right.

She usually was, so he took comfort in that.

TBC….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it, Sam told his Mom how he feels and he said the words aloud. A big step! Plus, the boys are making plans to live together in NYC! I know some folks were hoping for kisses, but really, I have a few more chapters to get through before we get there. It will happen thought, it’s all outlined…..


	13. Time Flies

**  
**  
**

The next couple of weeks passed quickly in a haze of school, Cheerio practices, glee rehearsals, two baseball games (they lost 9-4 and 12-7) a performance at the local retirement home and a concert at an open air Festival in the Park.

Initially, Blaine had been slightly wary of the retirement home, given Kurt’s comment about the last time New Directions performed there, but they survived without any of them being assaulted with a cat.

The last Saturday of April was sunny and warm, a perfect day for the arts and crafts Festival in Acorn Park. They've been given a nice area near the picnic tables by one of the event organizers and most of the people attending the fair seemed to enjoy the novelty of a live performance.

Their cover of Imagine Dragon’s On Top of the World proved especially popular.

Most days, Blaine saw at least one car drive by with one of the glee club bumper stickers proudly displayed and it always made him smile.

Saturday May 4th, found the entire glee club gathered in Sugar’s basement for a bonding night/party/sleepover. Normally, some parents might have hesitated to allow their children to attend a coed sleepover, but everyone knew there would be no underage hanky-panky in Al Motta’s house.

Not to say things didn't get a little wild. Lane spent the entirety of spin the bottle both hoping the bottle would pair him with Sam (he wanted to kiss him so badly and this might be his only chance) and hoping it didn't (it wouldn't be a real kiss, not the kind you wanted). In the end, Sam ended up kissing Ryder, Unique and Tina while Blaine was paired with Duncan, Jake and Brittany (who Frenched him).

Tuesday brought yet another Squirrels game, one was different than most of the others. Their opponents, the Tigers, were down their entire first string, Mono having swept through their school. For once, Blaine found himself on pretty even ground as far as pitching skills went and most of the game was spent neck and neck.

In the ninth inning, they were tied 5 -5 and Blaine stood on third watching as Luke got a firm grip on his bat. The count was full and, with two outs on the board, if he struck out they'd be headed into extra innings.

“C’mon, Luke, you can do it! This guy's arm has been gone for two innings!” Kitty shouted from the stands, one of their more verbal spectators. She'd even taken to coming to practices and running speed drills with the team. Most of the boys seemed less inclined to lolly gag when they were running along behind her bouncing…ponytail.

To each their own.

As soon as he heard the crack of the bat hitting the ball, Blaine took off. Since there were two outs are ready, he didn't have to worry about tagging up if it was caught. The rest of the Squirrels and their small crowd of onlookers shouted encouragement and, before Blaine knew it, his foot landed on home and the umpire shouted, “Safe! Squirrels win!”

They won.

A 6-5 bottom of the ninth victory was still a victory.

Turning to first, where Luke was standing in shock, Blaine pointed at him as the Squirrels bench cleared and they rushed out to celebrate, jumping and shouting and pounding Luke and Blaine on the back.

When the spectators join the fray, Sam recruited Ryder and the two of them hoisted Luke up onto their shoulders as someone dumped a bucket of Gatorade over Blaine's head.

Sometimes, one win could feel like everything.

The next day, they were still riding high on their win as they got home, both boys hurrying into the kitchen in search of food. Cheerio practice hadn't dampen their spirits, but it had built their appetites.

“That voodoo doll Sue has is creepy!” Blaine laughed as he pulled a cooked chicken out of the fridge. “And she thinks it works because of Roz’s nonsensical rambles, but really that's just how she talks.”

“Dude,” Sam said and something in his tone told Blaine he wasn't merely agreeing with him. “Look.”

Blaine immediately looked over to where Sam was standing by the table pointing down at…another envelope. 

“It's from NYADA,” Sam added and Blaine took a breath. He thought he'd have to wait at least another few weeks before he heard from them.

“The moment of truth,” Blaine clipped, slowly stepping over to the table.

“It's a fat envelope,” Sam assured him with a grin and Blaine quickly tore the flap open, pausing to grip Sam's hand before unfolding the top paper and reading it.

“I got in,” he breathed, turning to smile at Sam who was beaming in return.

“Of course you got in!” Sam laughed, grabbing Blaine in a rib compressing hug. “Your addition was incredible and your amazing!”

Clutching Sam just as hard, Blaine sighed, “This year… So many highs and lows… But I have to admit, there have been more highs. Keeping glee going, the Squirrels, student government, now getting into our dream schools….”

“BLAM!” Sam added and Blaine nodded vigorously.

“Yes! Us, me and you, I couldn't have gotten through this year without you Sam. I….”

“Me too,” Sam agreed, one big hand moving slowly up and down Blaine's back. “We're like… Unbeatable together.”

“Totally unbeatable,” Blaine breathed, smiling happily even as he told himself that the sudden…simmering something in the air was all in his mind.

“We should go to prom together,” Sam said suddenly and Blaine took a sharp breath. “Since were both single and will have more fun with each other than anyone else….”

“Like…a bro-date?” Blaine clarified, knowing that was how Sam must've meant it, even as his own heart leapt.

“Labels, labels,” Sam chuckled. “So, wanna go with me?”

“You do realize you're probably going to be in the running for prom King?” Blaine asked, pulling back to look up at Sam. “There are already girls stalking you in the halls. If we go together, people will talk.”

Sam wrinkled his nose adorably. “I don't want to go with any of them…and people already talk and I don't care. Do you not want to go with me?”

He looked sad and hurt and Blaine hurried to say, “No! Oh no, Sam… I'd love to go to prom with you. You're right, it will be fun…And hey, I'll be able to say I've had dates who were Prom Queen and Prom King!”

Smiling now, Sam snorted. “Dude, you'll probably the on the ballot to and just as likely to win as me.”

“Sure, I'm gonna beat the hot quarterback/captain of the baseball team who sings and plays guitar. You're a high school cliché dream boy made real!”

“You're one to talk, Mr. handsome student Council President/captain of the Cheerios/glee club star who is on the on a roll and amazing on the piano… Dude, were both kind of awesome.”

Blaine tried not to read too much into Sam's statement, or the flush on Sam's cheeks. God, how he wanted to….

He didn't quite know what to make of the way, Sam was looking down at him, eyes warm and soft, lush lips parted slightly….

“Blaine! Sam! I brought dinner from the Pizza Barn!”

His mother's voice broke the mood in the kitchen and Blaine stepped back out of the circle of Sam's arms, excitement about NYADA bubbling up again.

“Mom, I got into NYADA!” he blurted as soon as she entered the kitchen.

Clearly, his mother had seen the envelope and knew what its size meant, because as soon as she finished hugging and congratulating Blaine, she sent Sam to grab something out of the car.

That something was a beautiful chocolate cake covered in buttercream frosting and decorated with colorful musical notes and an inscription that read: Congratulations Blaine & Sam!

TBC…..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost there!


	14. Good Together

**  
**  
**  
**

After school on Friday, The Cheerios set out via airplane to Austin, Texas for the National High School Cheerleading Championships… An event which they won, much to the delight of both Sue and Roz though both women insisted it was her own coaching, not anyone else's that made that feat possible. 

Sam never thought he'd be a member of the champion cheerleading squad, is finding his senior year to be one of incredible surprises.

Even as quarterback, he'd never really felt like much of a leader. There will always louder, more aggressive people around them he tended to fall back as to, let them take the lead… This year though, he stepped up. As vice president of the senior class, as quarterback, as captain of the Squirrels, in glee… Taking charge wasn't as overwhelming as he always feared it would be.

The club was on track for Nationals, he and Blaine had everything planned out in the rest of the club trusted them to leave the way…and then Mr. Shue and the alumni showed up.

Well, that pushed up Sam's personal timetable. Not that it was anywhere near as structured as the one Blaine had worked out for the glee club, but still, he had a plan. A plan that amounted to Tell Blaine How I Feel Before Prom!

Kurt’s arrival may seem nervous, though the way, Blaine claimed his hand in the choir room and took part in facing down Mr. Shue and the graduates was reassuring. Then they performed flawlessly during their run through the songs they had selected for nationals, clearly shocking the heck out of their teacher and former classmates.

They were still standing on stage, smiling at each other as Blaine said, “Let’s go say hi to everyone for a while and then head home.”

Sam nodded as they walked in the wings with the rest of the club, but was struck by an impulse and said Blaine's hand, drawing him deeper into the folds of the long, velvety curtains for privacy.

The drapes muffled sounds of the others chatting and Blaine asked, “What’s up, Sam?”

Now or never.

Raising their intertwined fingers, he squeezed Blaine's hand and try to put all that he was feeling into words. “I love you.”

Okay, he might need to say more than that.

Blaine smiled softly, cheeks turning a warm pink. “I love you too, Sam. You're my best friend.”

“Yeah,” Sam agreed, free hand moving to cup the back of Blaine’s neck, thumb sweeping along his jaw. Blaine’s lips parted slightly in surprise. “But that's not what I meant.”

Not taking his eyes from Blaine’s, Sam dipped his head slightly and pressed a soft kiss to the sensitive skin of Blaine's inner wrist before allowing their joined hands to fall against his chest, laying over his rapidly beating heart.

The kiss drew a little gasp from Blaine, who was staring at Sam with surprise and hope and not a little want….

When Blaine reached up to stroke Sam's cheek, it was such a relief that nothing could have stopped him from leaning in for a real kiss.

**  
**

Still reeling from Sam's words, Blaine was stunned when Sam leaned closer and caught Blaine’s mouth with his own. Those perfect, plump lips were soft and warm as he'd imagined so many times and he sighed, surging up on his toes to slide an arm around the back of Sam's neck, hauling him closer.

Sam was kissing him, hot and intent, tongue brushing Blaine's, sucking his lower lip and making breathy sounds that made Blaine want to hear more. His hands, big and warm, were roaming over Blaine’s back and he outright moaned when one slid down and grazed the curve of his ass.

“Sorry,” Sam murmured, still close enough that Blaine could feel the words against his own lips, which prompted him to steal another kiss before he spoke.

“Don't be,” he replied, fingers burying themselves in the soft strands of Sam's hair. “Sam, what…when…?”

Smiling, Sam rested his for head against Blaine's and Blaine gave in to the impulse to brush their noses together. “I loved you as a friend first,” Sam breathed and it was obvious he was struggling to put what he was thinking into the right words. “The rest… It didn't happen all at once, but one day everything just made sense. I love you and I want to be with you. I want you to be my boyfriend.”

So many things that Blaine had purposefully ignored or told himself or meant platonically flooded into his mind and he smiled. They'd definitely have to discuss things at some point, but now….

“I want to be with you too,” he replied, kissing Sam with months of pent-up emotions, pressing himself against Sam, reveling in the warmth and strength of him….

“Oh, finally!”

Sugar’s voice startled Blaine enough to break the kiss, but not enough to move away from Sam. Together they turned to see Sugar and Kitty peeking in through the curtains, the blonde with her hand clamped over Sugar’s mouth.

“Don't stop. We were just checking on you. We’ll make excuses for your absence. Feel free to continue. Bye!”

Then they disappeared.

Turning his gaze back to Sam, Blaine said, “They didn't really look surprised.”

“I told you, people talk. Most of the school kind of thinks we might be an item already. Though some, like the creepy stalker girls, think it's just rumors… Which, until now, it technically kinda was….”

“Huh,” Blaine commented. “So no one would be overly shocked if I chose to hold my boyfriend's hand in public? To keep those persistent girls at bay.”

Sam grinned at him. “Dude, already done that,” he chuckled. “We may have to take more drastic steps.”

While they didn't hold hands at school often, Blaine realized it had occasionally happened… So perhaps….

Startled, happy hum burst from Sam when Blaine nuzzled his neck before sucking at the golden tanned skin, biting lightly. Far from protesting, Sam let his head fall back, offering Blaine access to more skin.

By the time Blaine drew away, there was a dark, obvious mark on the long column of Sam's neck. Seeing the bruise made Blaine bite his lip (worried he'd gone too far) and he looked at Sam's eyes which were dark with a want that shocked Blaine despite their earlier kisses.

Okay, so Sam had no issue with his staking a claim on his person.

Blaine found himself pressed back against the wall, Sam crowding close as he covered Blaine’s face with kisses, making him whimper when he sucked on Blaine’s ear while stroking his neck with gentle fingers. 

Every kiss and touch was both relief and a tease, months of pent-up attraction trying to find an outlet….

“Uh, guys, not to be a cockblock, but we need you in the choir room.”

This time it was Jake interrupting, though he had the courtesy not to peek through the drapes.

Groaning unhappily, Blaine buried his face against Sam's neck, licking the hickey as Sam, voice a little rough, asked, “Why?”

“Rachel said something about vocals needing fine tuning and… I really have no idea, but there's lots of shouting and I'm pretty sure there's going to be bloodshed. Luke, Duncan and Jorge look like they're gonna cry and even Mr. Shue seem scared….”

“And why do you think we'll be able to stop that?” Blaine asked, leaning against Sam, but knowing they would have to go deal with whatever was happening in the choir room.

“Because Kitty, Sugar and Unique might listen to you,” Jake said, then stuck his head through the curtains and snorted. “Guys, just walk into the room looking like that and everyone is gonna forget what they're fighting about.”

Blaine looked up at Sam, his red, kiss swollen mouth, disheveled hair, rumpled clothes and obvious hickey and figured he must look just as wrecked. Sam grinned at him and asked, “Why did we think being in charge was a good idea again?”

“No one else was gonna do it?”

Hand in hand, they follow Jake out of the auditorium, ready to take on whatever challenge was waiting for them.

TBC…..

THEY KISSED!!!!


	15. Ex's and Oooh's

**  
**  
**  
**

“Fancy school or not, you don’t know what works for us! You’ve got no right….”

“I’m only trying to improve your….”

“Why are you even here? They should have kicked you out after your mind games lost them Sectionals.”

“Everyone, just calm down!”

“None of you know us! Don’t judge us!”

“Of course we know….”

“No! You knew us last year….”

CLANG!

A loud, metallic crashing noise cut through the shouts, causing most everyone to jump and look toward the door.

When Jake had crept out of the room, Kitty suspected he was going off to find Sam and Blaine and clearly she had been right. Both boys were standing just inside the room, Sam holding the empty, metal trash can which he had obviously banged against the wall to get their attention.

“What the heck is going on in here?” Blaine demanded, even as Joe, Ryder, Luke, Duncan and Jorge ducked out from around the piano to cluster behind Blaine and Sam. Jake tried to look non-challant about keeping his own place among the pack of boys, but really he didn’t have to worry.

No one was looking at him.

Not when Sam and Blaine were standing there looking all kinds of debauched. Both of them were sporting red, swollen lips and rumpled hair. Blaine’s ever tidy polo was untucked and the collar unbuttoned while Sam had a fresh, dark hickey on his neck.

The room was silent for a moment until Brittany said, “Ooh, can I watch.”

Just thinking about the kiss she and Sugar had witnessed made Kitty’s cheeks warmer than she wanted to admit, so Britt’s question, while blunt, was understandable.

Almost immediately, a variety of stunned exclamations and questions filled the air as arguments were forgotten in favor of curiosity.

“Aw, finally!” Marley gasped with a grin, turning to high-five Unique who was nodding her approval.

From his spot by the door, Jake muttered, “I told you the fighting would stop as soon as you two showed up.”

Though both already a little flushed, Blaine and Sam both managed to turn redder at Jake’s comment. When the onslaught of questions failed to stop, Blaine glanced at Sam, who again banged the can against the wall.

“I think,” Blaine said once the room had gone quiet, “The more pertinent question is what are you all fighting about.”

“Oh please,” Santana snorted “50% of what goes on in this room is fighting. You tow looking like you’ve been mauling each other in the janitor’s closet is way more interesting.”

“They were backstage, no closet involved,” Jake offered and Sugar giggled.

Sam gave Jake an amused look. “Not helping, Dude.”

“Oooh, I’d say there was a closet,” Santana smirked at Sam and Kitty narrowed her eyes.

“A closet joke, Santana, really?” Kurt said, shaking his head, but still clearly focused on Blaine. “When…are you two…This is surprising.”

At that, Kitty laughed aloud and said, “Okay, show of hands…who saw this coming?”

Every current member of New Directions (except for Tina) raised a hand immediately. In a surprise move, Jorge spoke up, “All the Squirrels saw it too.”

“The Squirrels? The baseball team? What do those losers…OW!” Puck began, but Kitty slapped him upside the head, cutting off whatever he was planning to say.

“Sam’s team captain,” Duncan said, crossing his arms and glaring at Puck. “Blaine’s our pitcher. We won our last game!”

“Perhaps we should get back to discussing redistributing the vocals for…” Rachel started and was cut off by Sam.

“No,” he said simply, stepping further into the room, leading the group of boys over to stand with the girls currently in the club. The choir room was split, the graduates and Mr. Shue facing off against the active members of New Directions, though Puck and Mike were kind of drifting toward the piano (neutral ground). “We’re not changing our arrangement.”

“Guys,” Mr. Shue interjected, “It can’t hurt to listen to Rachel’s suggestion.”

“Yes, it can,” Blaine said, crossing his arms and giving Mr. Shue a look Kitty had come to think of as his God-how-are-you –this terrible-I hate-you-but-will-mask-it-with-politeness look. “We’re a team. We’ve bonded, in part because we only had each other to depend on for most of the year. We have established team morale and we’re not going to let undue outside influences affect that.”

“You two are dating?” Tina said suddenly, out of the blue. “When did that happen? Isn’t Sam straight?”

Artie reached out to pat her hand consolingly and Kitty sighed. Tina had been in the dark because of her own feelings. Since Blaine didn’t return her romantic affections, she clearly thought there was no way Sam would fall for Blaine.

“Yes. Very recently and I’ll let Sam answer that last question,” Blaine replied, smiling at Sam who grabbed his hand.

“I don’t need labels,” Sam said with a shrug and Brittany reached out to ruffle his shaggy hair.

“You’re a bi-corn like me,” she told him. “Love is love.”

“Love is love,” Sam agreed. “And love is good.”

Rolling her eyes affectionately, Kitty said, “God, I’m surrounded by closet hippies…and no, that wasn’t a closet joke.”

“So, if you all don’t need our help, what are we supposed to do here?” Mercedes asked, clearly doubting that they did not need them.

A few people shrugged and Artie offered, “Just…visit? We don’t need help or mentors, but we do need our friends.”

“Speaking of mentors, has anyone heard from Finn?” Mr. Shue asked and everyone shrugged.

Puck frowned. “I see him on campus sometimes, but he’s not around a lot and I’m pretty busy, so I can’t keep track of him.”

“What are you doing there?” Kitty asked, curious in spite of herself. “You don’t actually go to school, so….?”

“I audited a few classes and took the finals in ‘em,” Puck replied, then smiled proudly. “I kicked ass too. The professors helped me fill out some forms and shit and I’ll be enrolled in the fall.”

That was when the battle lines seemed to dissolve (at least for the moment) and they all started to chat. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kurt drifting over to Sam and Blaine, but was too far away to hear their conversation.

Subtly, she stepped a little closer to them, just in case her intervention was needed. She still had her squirt bottle in her purse.

**  
**

Kurt really didn’t know what to think. As a general principle, he didn’t think bisexuality was a true sexual orientation. It was just something teenagers said so that they could feel less isolated by their sexuality and could ‘date’ someone of the opposite sex.

But here was Sam, who had dated and possibly loved several girls, declaring his attraction to Blaine. That really didn’t fit.

Not that Kurt was jealous or upset, no of course not. He and Blaine were over. They had been for a long time, though Blaine had taken forever to accept that fact. Hell, he had proposed to Kurt after Regionals…and now he was holding Sam’s hand and smiling at the blonde like he used to smile at Kurt….

“So, how did this happen?” he asked, approaching the pair, who had just finished saying something to the three younger boys Kurt didn’t know. 

Blaine smiled softly and Sam replied, “A little bit at a time. But, you know, sometimes you realize something is right and you gotta go with it.”

“You have a way with words,” Blaine teased, nudging Sam with his elbow. “But he’s right.”

Nodding, Kurt said, “So…what are you going to do next year? You’ll probably get into NYADA and what’s Sam going to do?”

Beautiful eyes bright, Blaine grinned. “I got into NYADA! And Sam’s going to Pratt in Brooklyn. We’re going to go look at apartments the week after graduation!”

“Really? That’s great,” Kurt replied, shocked that Blaine had already received his acceptance letter and that Sam would be going to New York. Honestly, Kurt had always thought of him as someone who, like Finn, wouldn’t want to live in the city. “What are you going to study, Sam?”

“Art and graphic design,” Sam said with an adorably shy grin, tipping his head which caused his hair to fall in his face.

The boy could never remember to get his hair cut. Last year, Kurt had simply told him to get a haircut every six weeks or so, as he was fairly sure Sam would have just not done so without prompting. Clearly he had been right.

Blaine’s phone buzzed and he checked it. “Well, we’ve got to run. Mom’s making an early dinner. We’ll talk later this week, okay? Catch up?”

“Sure,” Kurt agreed with a smile, then remembered, “I have to get going too. Adam’s flying in tonight. I have to meet him at the airport.”

Another reason why he wasn’t jealous. His hot, sweet, British boyfriend who was willing to come out to Ohio to meet Kurt’s dad. Adam was wonderful.

“Great,” Blaine said, sounding like he meant it. “I’m glad you’re happy, Kurt.”

“You too,” Kurt replied as Sam made some goodbye to the room at large and then Blaine and Sam left, hand in hand, chatting easily about something.

They looked good together. Bright, happy, calm and content.

In spite of himself, maybe Kurt was a little jealous.

TBC…..


	16. Kisses and Curls

**  
**  
**  
**

Dinner had been early because his mom had to catch a late flight out of Columbus for a business trip. That in itself wasn’t unusual, but when Blaine found himself alone in his house with Sam, everything felt new and different…because now they weren’t just oddly affectionate best friends, they were boyfriends (Sam had said he wanted to be boyfriends) and the heated kisses they had exchanged backstage…just thinking about them made Blaine smile and blush.

“What are you thinking about?” Sam asked in a teasing tone, his smile warm and knowing. They were standing side by side at the sink, washing and drying the dishes, so Blaine swatted him playfully with the dishtowel.

“You know exactly what I’m thinking about,” he replied and, when Sam’s eyes dropped to his mouth, his claim was proven right.

Nodding, Sam murmured, “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that too.”

“Yeah,” Blaine asked, setting down the towel and taking Sam’s hand. “So you really want to be with me? I’m just asking because you’ve always been so clearly attracted to girls….”

Sam squeezed his fingers. “Well, I do like girls…I just like you too. I don’t know if I’m bi or just you, but I do know how I feel for you. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Blaine reaffirmed with a smile. Sexuality wasn’t always black and white, not were emotions. He could see the love in Sam’s eyes, had felt the passion of his kisses….It was still just a little hard to grasp, but Blaine knew the wish he’d held in the back of his heart, the wish that Sam could return his feelings, had come true.

“So…,” Sam said quietly, chewing on his lower lip and oh, was that ever distracting, “since we got our homework done in study group…wanna make out for a while?”

He was adorably shy in how he asked, face tipped down, a faint blush on his cheeks and Blaine nodded, rocking up on his toes for a brief, close lipped kiss before pulling him out of the kitchen.

Kissing Sam while lying atop him on a bed was even better than making out backstage. He could feel the rhythm of Sam’s heart, could hear every little gasp, moan and murmur…it was intoxicating to have Sam with him like this. Finally.

When he shifted, Blaine’s thigh rubbed against Sam’s cock, hard and eager in his jeans, drawing a guttural groan from the blonde. In their current position, Blaine’s own aching cock was pressed against the firm plane of Sam’s lower abs, the friction of each movement delicious.

With a regretful sigh, Sam pulled back a bit to meet Blaine’s gaze. “Dude, as truly awesome as this…Oh, geeze, that feels nice…I think maybe we should….”

“You want to stop?” Blaine asked, easing his leg out from between Sam’s thighs. “Are we going too fast for you? I know I’m not what you’re used to….”

Sam cut him off with a kiss, warm and soft, fingers gently stroking the sensitive nape of Blaine’s neck, making him shiver happily. “I just want to take you out on a couple of dates before…This, us together…it’s worth doing right, you know?” he murmured against Blaine’s lips, sincerity clear in his eyes.

“Okay,” Blaine agreed, pressing another kiss to Sam’s tempting lips. “That’s a good idea…do you want to sleep in your room toni….”

“No,” Sam replied quickly, arms tightening around Blaine. “No, I still want to sleep with you…kisses and cuddles and sleep...more after some dates….”

“You’re worth the wait,” Blaine breathed and was met by a stunned, dazzling smile from Sam. “How about we change into our pajamas and watch a movie?”

“Awesome,” Sam said, playfully kissing Blaine’s nose. His eyes slid to the side suddenly and he huffed a laugh. “Well, after we get the kittens down.”

Turning his head, Blaine saw that Tony was clinging to the curtains, almost at the rod, Steve only a few inches below him. Both of them were climbers. Blaine had been beside himself with worry the other day when Tony went missing for 3 hours, only to discover that he’s gotten stuck atop a bookcase in the study.

“It’s a good thing they’re so cute.”

“Too cute to get mad at.”

**  
**  
When Sam woke, soft, early morning light was filtering in through the window. Blaine was nestled against his left shoulder, still sleeping deeply, a tiny smile on his lips.

The impulse to kiss him struck and Sam grinned, realizing he could…but instead he slowly reached for the pad and charcoal pencil on his bedside table. Propping the pad up on his knees, he began sketching.

The curve of stubbled jaw….

A delicate shell of the an ear….

Smooth, elegant slope of his nose….

Sooty lashes casting shadows on his cheeks….

Defined brows….

Slightly parted, full lips….

A mass of wild, dark curls….

He was shading curls when he felt Blaine stir, nuzzling his shoulder, hand flexing against Sam's chest. “Morning, sleepy,” he murmured and Blaine smiled, drowsy and content.

“Hi,” he rumbled, blinking and looking up at Sam. “Been awake long?”

“A while,” he admitted and saw Blaine glanced down at his sketchpad. “I couldn't resist.”

Blaine stared, quiet for a moment before saying, “That’s amazing, Sam…but my hair never looks that good. Took a little artistic license?”

“No, that's how you look,” Sam assured him. “Awesome and wild and hot and I just want to bury my hands in your hair and kiss you….”

Which is exactly what he did.

Blaine hummed happily, returning the kiss and letting his hands roam over Sam's bare chest and back.

Best wake up ever, in Sam's opinion. Way better than coffee.

When they finally pulled apart, Sam pushed his bangs out of his face and Blaine chuckled. “We both have some hair issues I guess,” he sighed, reaching up to run his fingers through Sam's hair, something Sam really liked. “You always look good though. I look like a small woodland creature was electrocuted while sitting on my head.”

“You do not,” Sam disagreed, shaking his head. “I'm not sure what was going on at prom last year but your hair usually looks all…sexy when it's curly.”

Smiling, Blaine said, “Why, Mr. Evans, are you saying you find me sexy?”

“Totally sexy,” Sam agreed, then grinned as he had an idea. “Let me prove it to you! How about I pick how you look for school today, clothes and hair, and you do me!”

Yes, he caught the double entendre as soon as it left his lips, but Blaine just chuckled. “You sure you want to risk that?” He asked, clearly amused. “Because Cooper's room is right down the hall and all the clothes our WASPy relatives have bought him over the years are in there and he's pretty close to your size….”

“I'll take my chances,” Sam said… Which was how he found himself with neatly gelled hair, wearing a pair of pressed khaki pants, a blue-and-white seersucker shirt, blue suspenders, a red bow tie and tan Bucks (Blaine had grinned when he discovered Sam and Cooper were the same shoe size). The outfit was in Sam's style, but hey, it was far from the worst or most embarrassing things Sam had ever worn.

That honor would probably always go to the assless chaps/jockstrap combo at Stallions.

Hair wild and free (though he had insisted on something called curl refining serum, which somehow made the curls look even more amazing), Blaine seems to be handling his jeans, white V-neck T-shirt and black Chuck Taylor's pretty well. Occasionally, he rubbed at his stubbled jaw, but that was just because he was unused to not being clean shaven on the school morning.

“Dude, you look like a rock star,” Sam said with a big grin, handing Blaine one of his own hoodies in case he got cold. “Throw on the eyeliner from diva week and you'd be MTV ready.”

Blaine chuckled ruefully. “Liked that, did you?”

“I've got a weakness for eyes,” Sam admitted, stepping up to wrap his arms around Blaine from behind and kiss the side of his neck. “And you have incredibly gorgeous eyes. The black liner just…highlighted them.”

With a happy sigh, Blaine let his head loll to the side, allowing Sam greater access to the column of his throat. “Well, I don't have any eyeliner… But give me one of your charcoal pencils. A soft one… And you're totally doing this for me someday. Not today, it wouldn't go with your outfit, but you could totally pull off a grungy, rocker look….”

Grunge rock was pretty far removed from Sam's tastes, but hey, this is kind of fun, so why the hell not?

The occasional strange clothes were so worth seeing Blaine looking so obviously smoking hot (as opposed to his usual sexy sweetness).

Wanting to prove to Blaine that his natural hair looked awesome was having some unexpectedly fun consequences.

**  
**

“If those has-beens show up on Thursday and cause trouble, I'm gonna….”

“O.M.G!”

Kitty’s angry statement was cut off by Sugar’s delighted squeal and Marley followed her line of sight to see….

“Well, look at you boys!”

“I'm drunk, right?”

“…Guh….”

“Wow… Blaine Warbler, now I'm doubly mad you never made out with me and spoiled my record!”

Blinking eyes rimmed with smudgy black liner (and wow, she never really knew that could look so hot on a guy), Blaine looked at Britney in confusion. “We kissed during spin the bottle that one time.”

She wagged a finger. “Spin the bottle doesn't count.”

“Look at your hair!” Marley couldn't help but say, grinning as Blaine self-consciously touched his curls. “It's so much longer than when we did diva week!”

“Seriously, people would kill for those curls,” Kitty added, frowning. “Why the hell do you insist on dunking your head in a bucket of glue every morning?”

“You okay, Tina?” Sam asked and Marley looked over to see Tina just kind of gaping at Blaine.

Without looking at the older girl, Kitty held up the squirt bottle in front of Tina, who immediately blinked. “What? I'm fine,” she said in a funny voice, then cleared her throat. “New looks, guys?”

“Just for today,” Blaine assured her and Sam nodded.

“I kind of feel like I'm a kid dressed for church on Easter Sunday,” Sam said, sounding amused. “And I can feel my hair not moving.”

“I'm surprised more people aren't gawking like weirdos,” Kitty commented, then snorted. “Though you seem to be getting a lot of confused, ‘which one do I want to do now’ looks.”

Marley laughed at lanes surprised expression and Sam chuckled, nudging Blaine. “Told you… And I think most people at school have finally come to expect us to do weird stuff. I mean, even the teachers didn't comment on Evan, so….”

From everything Marley had seen and heard, McKinley as threshold for strange and different had definitely been raised (a lot) this year. Even Slushee attacks had died out in the fall.

“Well, we'll see you girls later. We have to stop by Coach Gardner’s office and give him the lineup for our next game,” Blaine said and, eyeing a group of circling girls, took Sam's hand and pulled him down the hall.

Everyone watched them go.

“Damn, who wants to start a campaign to make suspenders popular for boys to wear again?” Sugar said with a smirk. “Sam's got a nice booty.”

Brittany grinned at her. “He does. You can smack it and it doesn't even jiggle.”

The girls all shared a giggle, but quieted territorially as a junior Cheerio bounced into Sam's path, saying something as she touched one of his suspenders. Marley could see the tension in Blaine's shoulders, even as Sam shook his head at whatever the girl was saying. As they tried to step around her, she continued to block the way, clearly flirting.

“Hold my books,” Kitty said, handing Unique her history text. “I'm gonna go educate….”

Kitty's intervention was unneeded though, as Blaine apparently decided to publicly declare Sam was off-limits and his. Since the handholding didn't seem to clue in everyone, he grabbed a hold of Sam's suspenders, turning him and pulling him down into a searing kiss. Sam seemed surprised for a moment, then reacted, one hand clutching at Blaine's hip, the other burying itself in his hair.

Silence descended in the hall as everyone stared. After several seconds, Blaine pulled back from Sam and smiled at him, again starting down the hall, saying, “Excuse us,” to the bothersome Cheerio.

No one seemed to know what to say until a random girl from the soccer team said, “Oh my God, that's the hardest thing I've ever seen.”

Every girl (and a couple guys) nodded their agreement.

TBC…..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As Tumblr Blam Week starts on the first, this fic is gonna go on a brief hiatus, as I hope to write a short fic for each theme day. I will finish this story (Nationals, prom, graduation… And possibly apartment hunting in New York) after Blam Week! Pinky swear!


	17. Santana's Take On Things

“Britt, baby, after yesterday, I don’t think anyone’s gonna be thrilled to see us…though they should be,” Santana said, strolling down the hall, holding Brittany's hand.

With a smile, Brittany said, “Well, it's not the whole club, just everyone who has study hall this period. We meet up in the choir room. The whole club will be at the game this afternoon though!”

“Game?” Adam asked from where he was walking with Kurt. The two of them that accompanied Santana to meet up with Brittany, so they could show out of the school that had produced Kurt, Santana and Rachel.

“The Squirrels baseball game,” Brittany said with a smile. “I think I like baseball uniforms better than football. You can actually see the boys inside them.”

Santana smiled. Of course that would be what Brittany noticed.

“Besides,” Brittany continued happily as they approached the classroom. “You have to see Sam and Blaine today!”

Exchanging a look with Kurt, Santana shrugged. Why Britt thought they needed….

Oh.

Sitting in the choir room, with Marley, Sugar and the chubby kid, were Sam and Blaine, each dressed completely out of character. Blaine looked good, wild and rumpled and a little bit dirty (as compared to his usual spotless, shellacked image), while Sam looked like his inner dork had finally reared up and beaten the thin veneer of semi-cool jock out of him.

Either that, or he had somehow squished himself into Blaine's clothing...but given the fact that Blaine was Oompa Loompa sized and Sam was not, option number two seemed unlikely.

Of course she had to voice her opinions, which earned rolled eyes from Blaine and Sugar, wide eyes from Marley, an amused snort from Sam and a glare from the new kid (though he was about as threatening as a gerbil).

“What are you guys working on?” Brittany asked, pulling Santana over to where they were sitting.

“Gio from the Pizza Barn wants us to sing there on Saturday,” Sam told her, motioning to the notebook on Blaine's lap. “We're working on a set list.”

“Fun!” Brittany replied, peering at the notebook.

“So, have you guys been doing a lot of these performances,” Kurt asked, stepping toward the open seats beside Sugar. “Oh, manners… Everyone, this is my boyfriend, Adam. Adam meet Blaine, Sam, Sugar, Marley and… I'm sorry, I don't know your name.”

“I'm Luke,” short, round and ginger replied, still clearly wary. Maybe the boy wasn't a total waste of space.

“Explain the clothes. Now,” Santana demanded, tired of waiting for an explanation and Blaine sighed, tossing a thumb at Sam.

“He's trying to convince me that I don't look like a Chia pet and, if I had to go without gel, he had to wear that… Compromise, you know?”

“It's like you're trying on new secret identities!” Brittany enthused and that made both Blaine and Sam grinned, appealing to their nerdy little hearts.

“You two!” Someone else entered the room and Santana scowled to see it was Nick Charlette, one of the hockey players. The large boy lumbered into the room and Santana stood, stepping in front of Kurt and Brittany, noting how Sam and Blaine placed themselves between Charlette and Sugar, Marley and Luke.

“What do you want, Nick?” Sam asked and Santana saw him shift onto the balls of his feet, ready to spring into action if the hockey player made a move. He'd be their best bet if things became physical, though Santana wasn't one to back away herself and she had the feeling there was a lot of repressed aggression hiding under Blaine's usual grandpa clothes.

Charlette pointed a beefy finger at them as he gathered his thoughts. “Me and the guys talked. Two dudes kissing in the hall is weird as fuck…but go at it all you want, cuz our girlfriends got all hot and bothered over it. Don't know what the fuck that’s about, but I got dragged off for a BJ, so no one's gonna give you shit.”

He finished his statement with a nod and, considering the stupidity and homophobia of most of McKinley's jocks, it was a very surprising and nonjudgmental statement.

“We'll keep that in mind,” Blaine said, obviously surprised and amused. “Thanks for the heads up.”

He nodded again and turned, trundling out of the room.

“Huh,” Santana said with a laugh. “It doesn't surprise me that the hockey team had to get together and pool their resources to come up with that statement.”

“Does it worry anyone that they chose him as their spokesman?” Kurt mused. “Though he did manage to string sentences together instead of using grunts and rudimentary hand gestures, so perhaps he is the brain trust of the group.”

The rest of the period was spent writing up a set list and, after school let out, Santana found herself in a place she never thought she would voluntarily inhabit.

Sitting in the stands at a Squirrels game.

“This must be what hell is like,” she mused, causing Kurt to nod, though he seemed to appreciate the aesthetics Sam and Blaine provided in their perfectly fitted uniforms. According to Sugar, Sam’s just fit him like that and Blaine had taken his to a tailor…after which Sugar dragged the rest of the Squirrels to said tailor….

Well fitted uniforms didn’t make them suck any less though.

“Come on,” Adam said, clapping as a tiny freshman got on first base. “You have to appreciate their enthusiasm and perseverance in the face of staggering odds.”

Rolling her eyes, Santana looked at Kurt. “Why couldn't you have found a nice, jaded, cynical boyfriend? Did you go out of your way to find someone this optimistic and sickeningly cheerful?”

Kurt shrugged and patted Adam’s knee. “I like optimism.”

Turning back to watch Blaine at home plate, Santana asked, “Why is he crouching like that?”

“It makes his strike zone smaller,” Kitty snapped without bothering to glance at her. “C’mon, Blaine! You got this!”

Damn it if Blaine didn't get walked, as did Luke who was up after him. There was obvious relief on the opposing pitcher’s face when Sam stepped to the plate, long frame providing a much larger target zone.

“Far and away,” Kitty muttered to herself. “He's throwing high and outside, Sam. I know you saw it….”

When Sam connected, there was a loud crack and the ball sailed well over the heads of the outfielders for a grand slam. Though the other team was still up several points, the Squirrels could not have been more excited.

A few outs later, the game was over and everyone seemed way too happy in spite of the loss… Well, their coach wasn't happy. He was drunk and napping on the hood of his car.

Blaine and Sam seemed to be giving the rest of the team may “great effort!” pep talk. When they finished, Sam turned and said something to Blaine, who rubbed his own thigh gently.

“Aw, crap, his hammy must be acting up again,” Kitty muttered, gathering her pom-poms and climbing down from the stands.

By the time Santana reached the ground with Kurt and Adam, crossing to join the cluster of glee members, Sam had swung Blaine up onto his back like a baby koala. The smaller boy tried not to beam too brightly as he sighed and rested his cheek against the back of Sam’s shoulder.

“I'm fine,” Blaine said, assuring a worried Brittany, who was gently rubbing his leg. “The heating pad and some Tiger balm and I'll be right as rain tomorrow.”

“Do you need me to…,” Tina began, then cut herself off. “Call me if you need anything.”

For some reason, Kitty and Sugar shared a look over that. Santana, like everyone else had heard about Tina's trip into Vapo-Rape cray-cray land, but she thought it was maybe more to Kitty’s satisfied smirk.

The younger blond girl then gave Ryder a poke. “Go grabbed their gear bags. Sam doesn't need to carry them too,” she told him and the boy scrambled to comply.

Yeah, Kitty was surely some kind of hybrid of Quinn and Santana herself. Given that Marley lacked Rachel’s constant need for attention, Santana was pretty sure she knew who would be running shit in Glee club next year.

 

TBC…. (Next up, Sam and Blaine have a date and are adorable)


	18. Picnic in the Park

**  
**

Though he had to admit that it had felt nice physically to forgo gel for a day, on Wednesday, Blaine went back to his usual style…if perhaps a slightly later hand with the gel then he had been using. Sam had grinned when he saw his hair but didn't comment, simply pulled him close and kissed his for head.

For once they didn't have any plans after school, so they spent the afternoon hanging around the kitchen doing homework while Sam cooked. He refused to tell Blaine exactly what he was making, only that it was for their dinner date.

He seemed so pleased at the idea of surprising Blaine that Blaine didn't pry, only sat back, watching Sam and reading over a history review sheet (occasionally asking questions of Sam so he could study too… Though most of their teachers had given up on homework, the whole next week would be spent reviewing for finals).

When Sam pulled out a large basket, Blaine grinned. Apparently, they were having a picnic.

A picnic by the pond in Roosevelt Park.

As he watched Sam spread out a blanket, Blaine smiled and said, “My my, Sam Evans, you know how to do romance!”

Kneeling on the blanket, Sam rifled through the basket, pausing to look up and ask, “Is it too much?”

“Just perfect,” Blaine assured him, joining him is Sam pulled out a candle in a Mason jar and lit it. The sun was still out, so it was more of a symbol than anything.

Romantic dinners needed candlelight.

An iPod and speaker came next and Blaine reached over, placing his hands on Sam's cheeks and pulling him in for a kiss. That seemed taken the time to plan a picnic like this was just…so we and so very Sam.

Sam hummed happily against his lips, chuckling as he pulled back. “I thought I'd have to wait until you at least tried the hummus dip before you couldn't resist me anymore.”

Grabbing his hand, Blaine shifted and settled against Sam's side. “Oooh, bring it on!”

The aforementioned hummus pesto dip (eaten on crispy, pita crackers) was delicious. “This is incredible,” Blaine said, scooping up another bite. “I burn water and you can make this.”

Sam grinned at him. “I think our apartment kitchen should be my domain.”

“As long as I have unlimited visitation rights to the coffee machine, I have no problem with that,” Blaine replied seriously. “Did your mom teach you to make this?”

“No,” Sam said, nibbling on a chip. “I got the recipe from one of the ladies at my church.”

Every Sunday morning, without fail, Sam disappeared for a couple of hours and went to church. Blaine knew he had faith based discussions with Joe and bowed his head silently before he ate, but he had never seen Sam attempt to push his faith on anyone else or make a big deal about, so was easy to forget that it was an important part of his life.

“What church do you attend? The same one is Quinn did, right?”

“We did, but when he moved to Louisville we found ourselves at a Unitarian church and I like it. When I came back here, I found the local congregation,” Sam told him with a nod. “Rev. Sophia is very nice.”

Blaine popped hummus loaded ship into Sam's mouth. “Do you think... I mean, I know you and your family don't have a problem with us being together, but most religions….”

“What you want to come with me some Sunday?” Sam asked, pulling out a thermos and plastic cups. “Just to see and hear service?”

Accepting a cup of cranberry lemonade, Blaine smiled. “Yeah, I think that would be nice.”

He did want to see why it was so important to Sam.

His response seemed to please the other boy and they continued chatting lately about their post-graduation trip to New York to find an apartment. After much research, Blaine had his heart set on the West Village and Sam seemed delighted by his excitement.

Dinner was roasted vegetables and Turkey on bulky rolls and Blaine finished in record time. Between glee reversals, Squirrels practices and the Cheerios, this spring had been one of near constant exercise any found himself having to eat more to maintain his energy levels. Not a hardship when he was eating food like Sam had prepared.

When Sam pulled out dessert, he said, “Now, this is something my Momma taught me to make. Close your eyes.”

Smiling, Blaine did as instructed and soon felt something brush against his lips. Careful not to bite Sam's fingers, he took a taste and moaned playfully. It was really, really good. “What is that?”

“Pecan pie brownie,” Sam told him, then pressed a kiss to Blain’s mouth, tongue darting forward quickly. “Mmmm, brownie and Blaine.”

Eventually, the sun began to set in the gathered up the blanket and other picnic supplies to head back to Blaine’s car. As he drove home, Blaine said, “When I plan our next date, I'm gonna have to pull out all the stops. You set the bar super high.”

Sam flushed, obviously pleased by the complement and reached over to squeeze Blaine's hand. “I don't care what we do as long as we do it together. That's the important part.”

A feeling of such warmth bubbled up in Blaine’s chest that he wished he wasn’t driving, wished he could wrap his arms around Sam and burry his face against his neck and just get as close to him as possible….

Once home, they made quick work of putting away the leftovers. “You know,” Sam said slowly and Blaine could hear the coy smile in his tone, “usually I spend a while kissing my date that night on their porch, but since I live here….”

“Oh, I'm all for making out on the couch,” Blaine last, causing Sam to grin and grabbed his hand, dragging him into the living room.

Turning on the TV, Blaine said it to the SyFy channel, which was re-airing Sharknado, before joining Sam on the couch.

Sam had sprawled out across the cushions, long torso and limbs taking up a lot of space. He was still grinning and holding out a hand, so Blaine didn't hesitate, easing himself down so that he lay atop his boyfriend. Running a finger along Sam’s collarbone, he asked, “So…I seem to recall talk of kisses….”

It took no further prompting for Sam to stretch up the tiny bit necessary to press his lips to Blaine’s. Gentle kisses were exchanged as hands wandered as they lost track of time, lost themselves in a good old-fashioned session of necking on the couch.

The perfect end to a perfect date.

TBC…………


	19. To Win

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note #2: The story I had in mind for Finn for this fic had to be re-written in light of recent events. I never liked the character of Finn, but I decided to use the kid gloves with him here.

**  
**  
**

Blaine hadn't really known what to expect from Sam's church, but it was really nice. The Rev. spoke about love and hope, doing good in the world and being kind to others. Everyone he met was pleasant and no one batted an eye when Sam introduced him as his boyfriend to some people at the gathering after the service.

As they left, hand-in-hand, Blaine commented, “I expected more guilt trips, fire and brimstone and a scary, dying Jesus staring down at me from a cross.”

With a laugh, Sam said, “No, that's the Catholics.”

The rest of the week went by in a blur of practicing for Nationals, a baseball game and studying for finals. Friday found them on a plane and then in LA, accompanied by a ton of ‘chaperones’. Frankly, Blaine was pretty sure the only official chaperones on the trip were Mr. and Mrs. Shuster and Coach Bieste, but the rest of the alumni had come along for moral support… Or to watch them fail.

Rachel had been in a bit of a mood since Puck had reported back on the fact that Finn had decided to take off to backpack around Europe for the summer with his ‘friend’ Kaya to ‘find himself’.

Kurt had been cranky since Adam had returned to New York and was rarely seen without his iPhone in hand, texting like mad.

Mercedes and Quinn just generally seemed to doubt the abilities of the current members of New Directions, but at least they were quiet in their disdain, unlike Santana.

Mike and Puck were the only ones who didn't seem convinced they were destined to fail.

Lovely.

And, of course, Cooper was there waiting when they arrived at the hotel.

“Like I’d miss my little brother’s LA debut,” he teased, embracing Blaine and then holding him at arms length. “Look at you! Your hair is encased in an airtight shell of gel! What happened?”

Before Blaine could answer, Santana chirped, “We are assuming Trouty sucked some of the uptight right out of him.”

Blaine blushed and he saw Sam do the same. Irritated from the flight, Kitty snapped at Santana. “What is your creepy fixation with what Sam does with his mouth? It's weird enough that you're here with a bunch of high school kids instead of living it up in New York City, but you have to perv at him for the sake of it?”

At the beginning of the year, Blaine never would have guessed that Kitty would become one of the glee club's most vocal defenders.

As they went to check in, Mr. Shue began making apologetic noises about how he understood that the boys would be a little cramped, so many of them in a room, but they could probably get cots from the desk and maybe some of the alumni would be willing to share their rooms….

Sugar sniffed and told him she had reserved six rooms. One for Mr. and Mrs. Schuster, one for Coach, two each of the girls and boys.

Mr. Shue was shocked and protested spending so much, but Sugar simply said, in a very slow voice, “Sponsors. This isn't costing the school anything.”

Each room had two double beds, so Sam and Blaine did wind up requesting a call for Luke, as he, Duncan and Jorge were sharing with them. The beds could fit two but not three people comfortably.

As the incumbent national champions, they were viewed as a clear threat and the more aggressive clubs tried to get in their faces and be intimidating.

Blaine found a cathartic to join Unique and Kitty in verbally decimating those jumped up little punks while Jake, Ryder and Sam stood nearby, trying to loom with the promise of physical aggression should anyone try to start something.

When Blaine sent the pack from Trouducul Academy scampering away by chewing them out in fluent French (they thought themselves terribly clever, hurling insults in another language), he found himself dragged into a storeroom for heated, clandestine kisses.

Apparently, Sam liked it when Blaine got a little aggressive.

None of the current members of New Directions were shocked when they soared through the first day of competition and kicked ass in the final round, taking the national trophy yet again… It would have been nice though if Mr. Shue and their older friends hadn't looked so surprised.

Still, they were riding high on their win when they got home on Sunday night and Blaine wasn't about to complain when Sam pressed him against a wall and kissed him breathless the moment they stepped into the house. His hands slid down Blaine’s back, tugging him close and they groaned into each other’s mouth, enjoying the friction where their bodies met.

Pulling back slightly, Sam gasped, “I was thinking… I know it's a cliché, but after prom, we could get a hotel room….”

Completely on board with that idea, Blaine nodded. “Oh God, yes,” he breathed, then bit his lip when Sam rolled his hips, grinding their groins together.

Breath hot against Blaine's neck, Sam rumbled, “But maybe we could do something tonight?”

“Something?” Blaine asked, grunting as Sam attacked one of the sensitive spots on his neck. His fingers wound themselves into Sam's long hair and he tugged playfully. “What do you wanna do, Sam?”

There was a brief, sharp jolt of pain/pleasure as Sam bit his neck, then Blaine gasped in spry is when Sam's hands cupped his ass and lifted him, causing Blaine to grab the shoulders and lock his legs around slim hips.

Not that he was complaining, because the change in their positions slotted their cocks together through their genes perfectly and every step Sam took made him moan.

As Sam carried him towards his room, Blaine took the opportunity to suck on Sam's neck, again decorating the skin with hickeys and little bites. It was kind of a thrill to do that and to know that Sam wouldn't cover them up the next day, instead of wearing the marks like badges of honor. 

They fell onto the bed in a mess of limbs, hands yanking at zippers and pushing shirts up, too eager to fully undress. They were both still tangled in their clothes when Sam’s weight settled against Blaine and he thrust down once, lining up their dicks, now separated only by thin, soft cotton. Ever shift and slide was a thrill of sensation, clumsy and perfect and just so very them.

Blaine closed his eyes and let his head fall back, reveling in the sensations coursing through his body. When Sam leaned down to capture his mouth in another kiss, Blaine squirmed, bucking under him because it simply felt so amazing.

“Sam,” he choked when they finally parted, air becoming a necessity. They were both panting, breaths only growing harsher as Sam ground his hips down. He was using more of his strength now and Blaine grunted, trying to find some leverage so he could be more proactive in what they were doing.

“Blaine,” Sam breathed in return, keeping their eyes locked together. There was something intense about the eye contact as they worked together to reach their release. 

Gasping, Blaine managed to murmur, “C’mon, Sam, please… You feel so good….”

His words made Sam moan and his head fell forward. He wasted no time in sucking the skin over Blaine’s collarbone into his mouth, then licked a stripe up his neck. “Feel-good, smell good, taste good,” he moaned hoarsely, hips moving in continuous little circles and thrusts. “You’re all good….”

One of Blaine's hands managed to work its way up under Sam's shirt to find a nipple and he rolled it lightly between his thumb and forefinger. The action caused Sam to arch closer, making a noise somewhere between a moan and a whine. Blaine had never heard Sam make that particular sound, so hot and breathy, but oh, did he ever want to hear it again.

Twisting and bucking his hips, Blaine managed to find a rhythm that worked with Sam's motions, pushing them both closer to the edge. Sam was pressing down harder now, his face flushed and hair a complete disarray, eyes half closed, lips red and swollen, hanging open as steady moans spilled out of him….

He looked gorgeous and sexy, so wrecked and amazing, and there was love and lust glittering in his eyes….

Shaking, Blaine felt his orgasm hit, tremors wracking the length of his body. He bit his lip as he tensed beneath Sam, who groaned and managed to work a hand into Blaine's hair. “Oh God,” he gasped, “I can't… So hot….”

Thrusting harder and faster, Sam let out a guttural groan and went still. Even through the damp fabric of his boxer briefs, Blaine could feel Sam's cock twitching as he came, spilling into his underwear.

Breaths echoing loud in the quiet room, Blaine wrapped an arm around Sam who collapsed against him, barely managing to keep an elbow on the bed so that he could support some of his body weight. Their foreheads rested together as they tried to catch their breath, but they wound up kissing, soft and warm and deep, caressing each other through the aftershocks. 

After a quick clean up in the bathroom, they collapsed onto the bed once again, curled together far more innocently in sleep.

 

TBC……


	20. Season End and Something New

**  
**  
“Let’s hear it for the best season the Squirrels have seen in over a decade!”

Sitting in a booth at The Pizza Barn, Sam raised his glass of root beer with the rest of his teammates and friends, celebrating the end of the Squirrels season. The hadn’t made the playoffs, but no one really care and, after the final game of the season, they’d gone out for pizza.

Luke was standing at the end of one of the tables they had shoved together to accomodate everyone. He was grinning brightly, face red as he continued, “As a member of the team last year, let me just say, wow, this year was so different. No one ever thought we’d win a game, but we proved them wrong, didn’t we!?”

A cheer rang up and Jorge shoved a small, sloppily wrapped object at Luke. “We still aren’t the best ball players out there,” Luke said with a laugh, “but people aren’t making fun of us anymore. I think we all know we owe Sam a round of thanks for that...Which is why we got you this.”

He pushed the package across the table to Sam, who blinked in surprise. “You guys bought me a gift?” he asked in shock, pulling the paper away to reveal a red mug that had the words ‘#1 Coach’ printed on it in white. 

“You were our coach, teammate and friend this year,” Luke said with a nod. “We just wanted to give you something to remember us by.”

“You guys,” Sam said, choking up a little and rising to grab Luke and Jorge in hugs. “Thank you! That’s just...Thank you.”

As he went around hugging or trading fist bumps, Kitty laughed good naturedly. “Well, enjoy having Mr. Nice Guy as your pseudo coach while you can because after he graduates you’re stuck with me.”

“Really?” Jorge asked, turning to look at her in surprise. “You’re going to keep coming to run with us next season?”

She snorted delicately and waved a hot wing at him. “Next season? Cheerios train year round, so do you think I’m going to let your hard won new muscles atrophy? Hell no. By the time next season rolls around, you’ll all be lean and mean and ready to do battle!”

It was good to know Kitty would be looking out for the kids. A smile on his face, Sam sank back into his seat, laying his arm along the back of the booth behind Blaine, who leaned into his side.

For a moment, Sam could just forget all about the dreaded English final he had to face the next afternoon.

**  
**

Considering his 4.0 GPA and the fact that he had already gotten into his dream school, Blaine wasn’t stressing out over his finals. Neither were Tina and Artie, for similar reason, or Brittany...well, that was Britt.

Sam however was kind of a wreck. He’d managed to survive his math, science and history exams (Spanish was tomorrow and was going to be the easiest test for Sam, who had an ear for languages), but in an hour he was going to have to sit and face an English exam that included not a little reading. He knew the information, had been studying for weeks, but Blaine could tell he was all worked up by the way he was poking at his lunch without actually eating it.

Well, that and the fact that his shoulders looked tight enough to snap.

Being in such a state would in no way help him when it came time to sit for his final, so Blaine made a decision and took Sam’s hand towing him down to the auditorium and back into the cloak of the velvet curtains.

“What are we doing here?” Sam asked, but a smile was pulling at the corners of his mouth.

Blaine had brought him to the spot where Sam first kissed him and of course it held good memories. Smiling, Blaine looped his arms around Sam’s neck and smiled. “You need to relax,” he murmured, placing a soft kiss on Sam’s jaw. “I know English is the subject that’s hardest for you, but you know the material and you’re going to kick butt on this test.”

With a sigh, Sam wrapped his arms around Blaine and said, “I know I know it. It’s just...I worry that I’m not going to be able to express it and when I worry the words swim on the page even more and I just....”

Rising up on his toes, Blaine pressed a soft kiss to Sam’s lips, halting the flow of agitated babble. After a moment, Sam sighed against his mouth and began to return his kisses in earnest. With a final nip to Sam’s lip, Blaine pulled back and told him, “Which is exactly why you need to relax.”

He placed a hand on Sam’s chest, pushing back until the blonde leaned against the wall. Sam’s fingers flexed at his waist, trying to pull him up for more kisses, but Blaine shook his head and slid to his knees, fingers hooking the top of Sam’s jeans. 

A startled, aroused gasp escaped Sam and Blaine saw his eyes widen. Keeping his gaze locked on Sam’s, Blaine popped open the button of his jeans and lowered the zip. The sound seemed loud, but was quickly muffled by the curtains, as was Sam’s moan when Blaine palmed him through the thin cotton of his underwear.

“Oh, God,” Sam mumbled when Blaine dragged his jeans and boxer briefs to mid-thigh, baring his cock without preamble. Normally, he would have spent time teasing Sam, mouthing him through cotton, watching him dissolve into a need wreck, but they had a bit of a timeline….

Wrapping his palm around Sam’s flushed, thick cock, Blaine blew a breath over the tip, then lapped at it. Salty and a tiny bit sweet from all the fruit he ate, the taste of Sam’s pre-cum exploded across his tongue and Blaine let out a happy little groan of his own when Sam’s fingers wound their way into his hair, tugging slightly.

He slipped his lips around the tip and swallowed, wasting no time. He gave himself over to the motions, smiling a little at every sound that escaped Sam, every gasp and word of encouragement. His tongue worked over the thickening length, traced the throbbing vein on the underside, an action that made Sam bite hard on his lower lip. 

When Sam was fully hard Blaine changed tactics and swallowed around him, bobbing his head. He breathed through his nose and wrapped his hand around the base, stroking up to meet his mouth's descent. With his free hand, Blaine reached down and freed himself from his own jeans, gasping in relief as he gave his aching cock a stroke.

Above him, Sam groaned and thrust his hips shallowly, seeing just a bit more and Blaine was happy to oblige. He swallowed Sam as deeply as he could, feeling his throat contract around the pulsing flesh. Each time he pulled away, he teased the tip with his tongue, lapping up the now steady flow of pre-cum.

"Blaine," Sam panted softly, hand tightening in Blaine’s hair as Blaine pushed past his gag reflex and took another inch into his mouth. Sam’s whole body seemed to be trembling, back bowed, arching off of the wall. His mouth hung open, lips bitten and swollen and Blaine thought he was probably the hottest thing he’d ever seen. Barely able to speak, Sam gasped, “Gonna…gonna….”

Grabbing Sam’s hips, Blaine swallowed as Sam came, only releasing him when he was sure the last he’d caught the last spurt of cum on his tongue. Sam’s cock twitched in the cool air, glistening with saliva as he stood there looking down at Blaine with a happy, stunned expression.

Close himself, Blaine gave his cock a pump and was startled when Sam collapsed to his knees before him, wrapping his big hand around Blaine’s, stroking him steadily and diving in for a deep, wet kiss. 

Not two minutes later, Blaine came, spilling over their joined hands, Sam’s tongue dueling with his own. 

Sitting on the floor, they leaned against each other, trading, soft kisses as their breathing slowed back to normal.

When they left the auditorium to go off to face their tests, neither of them were feeling any stress.

TBC…..


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note 2: Special thanks to Lokifirefox, who picked Blaine's song Ain't Nothing Wrong with That!

**  
**

Once finals were over and everyone could breathe, last-minute prom frenzy set in. The girls got scary and holed up at Sugar’s on Friday, ready to spend all of Saturday primping and preening.

Not wanting anything to do with that mess, the boys hunkered down at Blaine's for night of junk food and video games. Luke, Jorge and Duncan, never having been to a prom before, were a little nervous, as they had been recruited by Tina, Sugar and Unique to serve as their escorts.

A post-finals, pre-prom junk food binge was exactly what they needed to take their minds off of the scary girls. Not for the first time, Blaine was glad he could avoid all of that drama.

Late Saturday afternoon, he and Sam slid into their suits, Blaine’s black, Sam's charcoal gray, and let Blaine's mother take about 100 pictures of them, posing and exchanging boutonnieres.

It was embarrassing, but also kind of nice Blaine thought as the party bus rolled up.

Sugar, Jorge, Santana, Brittany, Artie and Betty were all already aboard, the girls all wearing flower wreaths in their hair. As he sat beside Britney, Blaine smiled. “I like your flowers,” he told her, somehow knowing she was behind the floral wreaths.

Beaming, she nodded. “I made one for everyone, but the boys don't want theirs,” she said, pouting and pointing at Artie and Jorge. “Will you wear yours?”

Blaine was torn. He really didn't want flowers in his hair, but pouting Brittany was….

“I'll wear one,” Sam said, reaching over to take a read from Brittany and plopping it on his head. “It's pretty, Britt. Thanks.”

All signs of pouting vanished as Brittany grinned at Sam and Santana snorted. “Trouty, this ‘look at all the fucks I do not give about what you assholes think of me’ thing you've got going on is good. Keep it up and the real world might not eat you alive.”

As they picked up the rest of their friends, the girls gamely took their flowers, while out of the boys only Joe and Luke (clearly following Sam's example) chose to accept their crowns. When they cut the dance, the wreaths got a couple of curious looks, but everyone just seemed to shrug them off as another example of ‘glee kids doing weird shit’. Most people just seem to expect that of them by now.

The gym was decorated in a starry night theme, understated and classy and, as usual, Coach Sylvester stood sentry by the punch bowl.

After a few dances, Blaine took his seat at the table the club had claimed so he could watch Sam sing Tim McGraw's My Best Friend. Sam's eyes found him across the room and Blaine smiled, cheeks warm and happy. When he finished his song, Blaine met him on the dance floor, slipping easily into Sam's arms as Ryder, Jake, Artie and Joe performed Little Things.

For a couple of hours, they danced, together and with their friends, laughing, spinning and swaying, just having a good time. Occasionally, someone would get up and sing something, be it a high-energy number or a ballad. Blaine himself saying lead in a group number, Ain’t Nothing Wrong With That, backed by Brittany, Jake, Kitty, Ryder, Marley and Sam.

Everyone was having a great time and as he swayed on the dance floor in Sam's arms, Blaine chuckled when a random hockey player threw him a thumbs up and pointed to his own happy girlfriend.

“What's so funny?” Sam asked, grinning down at him and Blaine rose up on his toes to press a quick kiss to Sam's lips. 

“I'm just… So happy to be here with you,” Blaine murmured and Sam hugged him close in response.

They were so caught up in each other that they didn't notice when the song changed, not until they recognized a familiar voice.

Kurt was on stage, singing Bruno Mars’s When I Was Your Man. Blaine felt Sam goes stiff in his arms as they turned toward the stage.

Of course Kurt sounded wonderful, but his song choice was more than a little inappropriate and Blaine let hand slide under Sam's jacket, rubbing his side soothingly. “What's going on?” he asked, even though he knew Sam was equally at a loss.

“Shue invited us graduates to sing,” Santana offered from where she and Brittany were dancing. “Just to let you guys dance more but still have live music… But wow, questionable song choice Kurt!”

She was right. The lyrics were completely inappropriate considering Kurt had a boyfriend and Blaine had Sam. It was just…UGH!

Not fair. This was supposed to meet Blaine in Sam's prom and Kurt was pushing his way into it and it wasn't right….

His train of thought was derailed by the feel of Sam's lips on his four head. “Wildflowers okay? Cuz florists are really expensive.”

The sweet smile Sam gave him made Blaine melt a little and he leaned into Sam. “Perfect,” he murmured, squeezing Sam tight. “Flowers are nice, but you don't need to get me any because this… Us… We are perfect together.”

“Peanut butter and bananas perfect?”

“Cap and Tony perfect,” Blaine agreed, Loving the Way, Sam lit up. He looked amazing under the sparkly lights, his hair a blonde halo under the ring of flowers he still wore proudly.

When Kurt wrapped up his song, Figgins took the stage and said, “Attention students, it is time to crown the king and queen of…” He paused when Sugar hissed something up at him from where she stood at the base of the stage. “I have been informed that saying King and queen is outdated and we shall be electing a Prom Royal Couple this year instead. All right, envelopes please.”

Becky Jackson appeared and thrust an envelope at him. Figgins read the card and announced, “Prom King, Samuel Evans!”

Kissing his cheek quickly, Blaine pushed Sam towards the stage. It took Figgins a moment to situate the plastic crown on his head without disturbing his flowers, but eventually they managed.

Then Figgins open the second envelope and he raised an eyebrow. “Also Prom King, Blaine Anderson.”

A cheer went up and Blaine blinked in surprise, spurred into motion by Kitty and Brittany, who dragged him forward. Sam stepped to the edge of the stage and reached down, pulling up when Blaine clasped his hands, leaping neatly onto the stage. 

“Here,” Sam said, setting his crown onto Blaine’s head. “I'll take the tiara. It won't crush my flowers… Plus I don't think the local homes on it are any match for your gel!”

He said it so seriously the Blaine laughed before stepping towards the microphone. “Prom Kings, huh? Thanks. You know I've been to three proms here at McKinley and over the years I've seen my fellow students here grow in their acceptance of people who are little different than themselves and that makes me so proud to have been a student here with all of you!”

There was another round of applause and then they shared their spotlight dance as Rachel sang In The Still Of The Night.

Back at the table, Tina mused, “Who would have thought this year's power couple would be you two?”

She said it with a real smile though and Blaine laughed as Sam teased, “Well, we are kind of awesome.”

“Is it weird to ask what was with that song your ex sang?” Jake asked, obviously puzzled. “I mean, that guy he brought to school a couple times was his boyfriend, right?”

Blaine nodded and took Sam's hand, shrugging. “I have no idea.”

Honestly, he didn't really want to know. He was over Kurt and felt like digging into his motivations would just be like opening old wounds. Instead, he leaned into Sam's side, content. 

As the hours passed, slow dances grew closer and, sometime around 1030, Blaine found himself pressed up against Sam on the dance floor, his face hidden in Sam's neck. All around them, other couples were in similar clinches, some quite obviously making out.

Quietly, Blaine asked, “Do you want to get out of here?”

Looking down at him, Sam smiled and nodded, “Yeah. That sounds good.”

“I booked a hotel room,” Blaine breathed in a rush, cheeks burning. “I know we haven't talked about it since the day you mentioned it, but I….”

Sam kissed him, standing there in the middle of the dance floor, a kiss full of passion and want and love. When he pulled away, they were both smiling and Sam said, “Well, let's go.”

Possibly a little eager, Blaine dragged Sam over to their friends to bid them good night. 

TBC…..

Next chapter is Prom Night *Bow chicka wow wow*


	22. Prom Night

**  
**

They weren’t the only couple from McKinley checking into the hotel that night, but they were the ones who earned a raised eyebrow from the clerk. Though, to the man’s credit, Blaine couldn’t tell if the eyebrow was due to the fact that they were both boys or the plastic crowns they wore…or because of the flowers in Sam’s hair.

As soon as they entered the room, Sam was in his space, pressing him up against a wall and kissing him like a desperate man. The little bag Blaine had grabbed from his locker before they left the school almost slipped from his fingers as he wrapped his arms around Sam’s shoulders. He let out a little grunt when Sam’s hands slid down his back to grip his thighs and lift, equalizing their height difference. They both groaned when Blaine wrapped his legs around Sam’s hips, pressing their lower bodies together perfectly.

Making their way to the bed, various crowns were abandoned on the dresser and soon Blaine found himself sprawled on the mattress, Sam’s warm weight atop him, nipping at his lips and fingers working into his curls, breaking them free from the gel Blaine had carefully applied earlier.

With smile, Blaine let his own fingers run through Sam’s hair, enjoying the soft, silky feel. He’d never really been keen on long hair on men, but now he could really see the appeal and tugged slightly, urging Sam to lean back so he could look him in the eye.

When Sam complied, Blaine sighed happily. His boyfriend looked utterly devastating, cheeks pink, eyes dark with lust, hair wild and those lips…red and kiss swollen and just….

“I love you,” Blaine said, pushing some of Sam’s hair out of his eyes, warmed by the delighted smile his words brought to Sam’s face.

“Thank God,” Sam breathed with a slightly shaky laugh. “Because I love you too.”

Exchanging smiles, they kissed again and managed to wrestle each other out of their respective jackets, tossing their ties aside. Blaine hummed when Sam bent his head, kissing his neck and let his hands roam over Sam’s broad, strong back, feeling the shift of muscles through thin cotton.

When Sam began opening his buttons, he trailed kisses along the newly revealed skin, making Blaine doubly glad that he had forgone his usual undershirt. He couldn’t help but giggle as Sam licked into his belly button as he tugged the tails of his shirt free from his pants. Pausing, Sam looked up at him and breathlessly asked, “Are you ticklish?”

“No,” Blaine huffed, tugging Sam back up for a kiss and then hooking his leg around his hip and rolling them over. He made quick work of Sam’s shirt, spreading it open to reveal what seemed like miles of soft skin and hard muscle. Bending, he pressed a kiss to Sam’s heart and he felt Sam’s breath hitch.

The drag of Sam’s palms along Blaine’s ribs made him moan a bit, skin almost tingling. Sam’s hands felt huge, calloused and rough is a good way, strong and so real as he helped Blaine shrug out of his shirt. Sam’s tongue brushed Blaine’s as he rolled them again and Blaine let his hands rest on Sam’s back, pulling him closer so that his weight rested on him again.

Sam got his shirt off a buried his hands in Blaine’s hair again, letting himself rest atop Blaine as they kissed. It’s solid and grounding in a way Blaine really enjoys and he lets himself get lost in the kiss, a sloppy, breathless, needy crush of lips that make him ache with want even as he feels warmed from the inside out.

When Sam released his grip on his hair, ghosting his hands down the length of Blaine’s torso to reach for his fly, Blaine drew a breath. The sound of his zipper sliding down seemed oddly loud and Blaine bit at Sam’s lip even as he lifted his hips to help Sam pull his slacks and underwear down. He pulled away from Blaine for a moment to get both their shoes and socks off, then stripped himself down to skin before sliding back up to rub their bare cocks together.

Blaine’s fingers shook a little as he reached out and touched Sam’s side. Meeting his gaze, Sam took his hands in his own and intertwined their fingers and resting their joined hands on either side of Blaine’s head. They kissed and Blaine opened Sam's mouth with his tongue. He licked in, slow at first and then more demanding, and Sam groaned for him, sounds growing louder when Blaine hitched a leg around his hip and ground up against him.

“Sam,” he murmured when Sam latched onto his neck again, worrying the flesh with little bites, “my bag…there’s…oh, that’s good…lube, condoms….”

It only took Sam a moment to locate the little bag on the bed and he extracted the lube, the paused to bite his lip. “Do you want…I’m clean and I’ve never not worn one, but…” Sam stammered and Blaine felt a surge of warmth inside.

“Me neither,” he agreed, having always been very safety and mess conscious, but he smiled and said, “We don’t need them.”

Sam nodded and flicked the little bottle open, dribbling some onto his fingers before he urged Blaine's knees up. Sam’s fingers slid against him, catching at his rim but not breeching him. Blaine moaned at being teased and he watched Sam flush and smile in awe at every arch of Blaine’s back, every whine. He nearly choked on a moan when Sam finally pressed one finger inside, leaning down to press a kiss to the sensitive skin of Blaine’s jaw.

When Sam added a second finger, Blaine reached down and gripped one leg, pulling it up and opening himself wider as Sam crooked his fingers just right. Mentally, Blaine swore to himself that he was buying Brittany a box of chocolates for teaching Sam the wonders of the prostate, because she had clearly taught him well. He’s sure the people in the room next door can probably hear him gasping and moaning, but he can’t bring himself to care as Sam’s third finger brushed along his rim before pushing in.

The way Sam was staring down at him with awe and love made Blaine want him even more and Blaine pulled him close, resting their foreheads together before accepting a wet, desperate kiss that has Sam swallowing Blaine’s cry of disappointment when he pulled his fingers out of him. Blaine gasped, feeling an emptiness as his body attempted to clench around nothing, but his gasp turned into a groan when he looked down and saw Sam slicking himself up.

“Tell me if it hurts,” Sam whispered against his lips, hips hitching forward and the head of his cock pressing into Blaine. There’s pressure and a good burn, not pain. Sam had been thorough in prepping him, so as he eased forward, bit by bit, it felt wonderful. He ran a hand down Sam’s back hitching a leg around his hip, digging a heel into Sam’s ass to urge him forward. 

When Blaine arched his back to find a prefect angle, Sam’s hands settled on his hips to help. Fully seated in him, Sam paused to kiss Blaine gently, then began to thrust, slow at first and building into a steady rhythm. 

“Uh, God, Sam, you feel good,” Blaine murmured, his muscles tightening around Sam as his cock struck his prostate over and over. Pulling Sam into a kiss, he panted against his lips, grinning when Sam groaned his name.

Blaine's fingers clutched at the sheets for purchase, gripping them tight as he rocked his hips against Sam's and flung his head back. Lost in a sea of sensation, he had little idea what was happening, but his body met Sam's thrusts and tightened around him each time he moved to withdraw. His cock was hard and leaking against his stomach, untouched, flushed and aching, the need to touch it building as the minutes passed.

“Are you close?” Sam panted in his ear, pulling Blaine out of his lust filled daze. 

Wrapping a hand loosely around his cock, Blaine whimpered, “So close.” He knew all it would take would be a few hard tugs, so he met Sam’s lips and cried out, the roll of their hips bringing them both to the brink

One of Sam’s hands cupped the back of Blaine’s neck, holding their mouths together as Blaine gasped and withed, losing it as Sam slammed his hips forward again. His whole body shook, coming hard and clenching around Sam tighter even as continued moving right through his orgasm. Shaking and over-sensitive, Blaine gasped for breath, whimpering as he felt Sam’s cock twitch inside him, felt something new and hot and a slick inside.

Sam slumped against him, hips still moving sluggishly, still buried in him as Blaine ran a hand down his sweat damp back. They traded breathless kisses until Sam withdrew and Blaine sighed at the sudden feeling of emptiness. He was a little startled when Sam reached down and touched him again, sliding through the slickness of lube and his own cum, tracing around Blaine’s rim before sliding two fingers into him.

It was way too soon for Blaine to get hard again, but the action caused an ache of arousal deep inside and his cock gave a little twitch, limp and spent on his thigh. Grabbing Sam’s sweaty hair, he hauled him close and kissed him deeply, hot and sloppy and full of promise. 

They had the room all night and somehow Blaine knew neither of them was going to take long to bounce back for round two…and possibly round three…maybe some sleep before round four……

 

TBC…..


	23. Chapter 23

**  
**  
**

“OMG, they have emerged!”

“Looking both exhausted and refreshed. I don’t think we need to ask what you two spent yesterday doing.”

Blaine chuckled as Sugar and Kitty appeared to flank him and Sam as soon as they entered McKinley on Monday morning. Tired, sated and whole body sore (in a good way), he couldn’t exactly deny their insinuations, so he just smiled and said, “Good morning, Ladies.”

“Prom went off without a hitch!” Sugar bubbled, looping her arm through Sam’s free elbow. “Everyone loved it!”

“Well, other than everyone’s confusion over why the hell some of last year’s graduates were singing instead of us,” Kitty added, then cocked her head to the side. “And, on that note, I asked Kurt what was up with his oh-so-inappropriate song choice.”

Grimacing, Blaine exchanged a glance with Sam. They had decided to take the high road and ignore the implications of the song. “Kitty, I don’t think….”

“He alleges that he simply intended to remind everyone to cherish their relationships,” Kitty continued with a snort. “Not sure if I believe him, but it may be at least half true.”

“Considering the fact that you cornered him and looked ready to break out the water board and flood lights, I tend to believe him,” Artie added, rolling up with Tina to join the conversation.

“Plus, he’s dating Adam,” Tina said with a nod. “So it couldn’t have been meant the way it sounded…cuz it was kind of bad. And I know inappropriate serenades from personal experience.”

Everyone chuckled a little at her humor and Artie continued, “So boys, you ducked out early and missed an epic Sue/Roz throw down.”

Glad for the change of topic, Sam asked, “What happened….”

**  
**

The last few days of classes were pointless. They played games, almost no teachers bothered with attendance and hours were spent exchanging and signing yearbooks.

By the end of the week, nearly every student and teacher had signed Blaine’s yearbook, filling it with friendly (or at least benign) sentiments…well, no Coach Roz and Coach Sue had their usual vitriol filled rambles, but that was normal. When Blaine had begun his freshman year, he never would have imagined that happening.

Standing on the stage, giving his salutatorian speech (Artie was valedictorian), had been awesome and he couldn’t stop beaming once he was handed his diploma. His parents were watching from the audience, sitting beside Sam’s family.

Sam’s smile shone brighter than any star, grinning through the whole ceremony. Diploma in hand, he swept Blaine into a hug, and then gathered a laughing Tina close, twirling them both. Brittany perched on Artie’s lap, giggling as he spun them around.

They had survived McKinley High.

They had graduated.

The rest of their lives were just beginning.

 

THE END

Thanks to everyone who stuck with me through this fic. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I liked writing it.


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